ABSTRACT
The general statement regarding online darsan is as follows: Murtis do not possess an ontological reality. In addition, as a result of the diversity of Hinduism, devotees have various subjective conceptions of the nature of murtis and this affects their views as to the status and efficacy of online darsan. Several scholars have pointed out that, intertwined with offline developments, there has been an emergence of dominant Hindu narratives online and that this is at odds with the multiplicity of Hinduism. In D. D. Kulkarni’s study of online darsan in the BAPS Swaminarayan tradition, a distinct generational digital divide is observed: “younger devotees were more likely to reference the use of their phones and sometimes computers to access the ‘Daily Darshan’ app or view YouTube videos in their daily praxis”. The chapter also presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book.
