Airtel brings live aarti to mobiles

Bharti Airtel has announced the launch of Live Aarti service for its subscribers. Airtel subscribers will now be able to listen to live prayers from some places of worship in India which include Tirupati Balaji, Sidhi Vinayak, Shri Shirdi Sai Baba and Bangla Sahib.
In a press statement, the company claimed it was the first service on mobile offering live puja. Users need to call on different numbers from their mobiles for subscribing to different shrines and have to pay Rs 5 as a onetime membership fee along with a daily subscription charge of Rs 2 per shrine. Through the Live Aarti, Airtel users can listen to the Kalyanotsayam Tirumala, Arjita Brahmotsavan and Sahasra Depalankarana from Tirupati Balaji; Kaakad Aarti and Shaam ki Aarti from Sidhi Vinayak and Kaakad Aarti, Abhishek and Satyanarayan Puja from Shirdi Sai Baba.
Devotional sermons from temples such as the Golden Temple, Vaishno Devi, Kashi Vishwanath, Har ki Podi, Nathdwara, Patna Sahib Gurudwara and Puri Jagannath will shortly be included in the service. The press release stated that the operator would soon include all other religions and cover other places of worship across India.
Airtel was earlier offering a similar service wherein subscribers could select devotional songs available in multiple languages, to set them as wake-up call alerts on their landlines or mobile phones. The company also provides content on spiritual gurus and institutions such as Iskcon and Art of Living foundation.
Currently, operators such as Vodafone and Reliance Communications are also offering devotional VAS either directly through voice or through their WAP sites using dial-in and subscriptions.
Vodafone provides devotional alerts through SMS and voice in the form of verses from the Bible and shlokas from Hindu scriptures. Vodafone users can also dial certain service numbers to listen to Gurbani, devotional songs, prayers and Osho’s philosophy. They can also get quotes by the Pope.
Reliance Communications also has a portfolio of devotional services on offer. The company provides prayer alarms and other voice based services such as Geeta Sar (verses from the Bhagwad Geeta), Gurbani, Bible, Mukhwak, Nineam, as well as packs which include complete festive darshan from temples on mobile phones.