Online bookings soon for Parthasarathy, Mangadu temples

Chennai: The Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department has decided to introduce online bookings for several facilities, including paid darshans, donations, and for other special events at Mangadu and Parthasarathy temples.Officials said both these temples get a crowd of 7,000 to 8,000 people during the weekends and a sizeable number of people book the paid darshans. “The slots will have a batch-based darshan system. This will streamline the bookings, and reduce the crowd in paid darshan counter. Physical bookings will continue to operate till people entirely shift to online,” he said, adding that it will eliminate any overcharging in local level too.The portal will have categories for senior citizens, parents carrying infants, and persons with disabilities too, giving them priority in slots.The official said the evening crowds can be contained through specific slot-based bookings and they’re planning to carry out the online bookings though central govt’s NSIC technical services portal. “The HR & CE details involves sensitive information on idols and we don’t want to go for third party operators as data theft or breach may have big repercussions,” the official said.In the second phase, the HR & CE department said they’re attempting for a slot-based bookings even for free darshans. “At the moment, people just walk in but if the online bookings work well for these two temples, we will expand it for a token based system even for free darshans. The minister’s instruction is to ensure the bookings are made digital as much as possible, and remove any form of physical work,” he said.In future, the HR and CE department is planning to introduce a WhatsApp based ticketing system, similar to CMRL.