Now online donations to Golden Temple

Amritsar, Feb 7 (IANS) It's good news for those wanting to make a donation to the Golden Temple, the holiest Sikh shrine, at Amritsar but unable to do so by physically coming here. They can now donate online.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has tied up with the HDFC bank to facilitate online donation to the shrine, bank officials said here Sunday.

The bank has extended e-collection facility to people through HDFC Bank Payment Gateway to make donations.

The SGPC, which has an annual budget of nearly Rs.450 crore, manages the temple - also called 'Harmandar Sahib' - and hundreds of other gurdwaras (Sikh temples) across Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

Most of the money in the SGPC coffers comes through donations.

The e-collection facility through the HDFC bank will particularly benefit non-resident Indians (NRIs) who wish to make donations but cannot travel to the shrine every time.

'India is a spiritually enlightened country and HDFC Bank has always used technology that touches lives of our customers in all the spheres. This tie-up will enable lakhs of devotees of Golden Temple, spread across the world, to conveniently send their offerings to the holy shrine using HDFC Bank's secured net banking services. It also enables the devotees to select the specific purpose for which the donation is made,' the bank's country head-operations A. Rajan said.

The HDFC website offers a variety of payment options to devotees to make their offerings, which include direct debit to their accounts with the HDFC Bank or pay by a debit card or a credit card of any bank.

The bank has 147 branches in Punjab.

'We welcome this initiative by the HDFC Bank as it offers devotees a convenient way of showering their gratitude,' SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said.