Frequently Asked Questions

Pick a puja from our /pujas catalogue, choose a pandit and temple, enter the sankalp details (your name, gotra, intent), pick a date, and pay. You'll receive a booking number (format BS-YYYYMMDD-XXXXX), a booking page that always shows the current status, and video proof of the puja, which we aim to upload within 24-48 hours of the ceremony.

Video proof is a recording of the pandit performing your puja. It is mandatory for every puja booking on Darshya. We aim to upload it to your account within 24-48 hours of the ceremony, and it stays downloadable for 90 days. If nothing has arrived 72 hours after your slot, write to support@darshya.online — a person reviews it and the refund is full where the pandit is at fault.

Cancel 48h or more before your puja for a full refund, or 24-48h before for 75%. Cancellation is not possible within 24 hours of the scheduled time. Refunds reach your account in 5-7 business days. Inside that window the samagri has been procured and the pandit slot is locked, which is why the booking can no longer be cancelled by you. Reschedule via /support or WhatsApp.

Prasad delivery is an optional flat ₹150 add-on that you switch on while booking, with the address you enter there. It is not included in the puja price, and it is delivered within India only, and we do not promise a delivery date or courier. Your booking page shows a tracking ID once one is recorded.

Only in one specific sense, so here is exactly how far it goes. A pandit is paid only once Aadhaar-based KYC is on file, which is a payout gate rather than a public credential check — we do not yet run independent credential verification or temple reference checks, and we do not publish a per-pandit trust score. What every booking does carry is mandatory video proof of the ceremony.

We stream live darshan from major temples including Kashi Vishwanath (Varanasi), Tirumala Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Siddhivinayak (Mumbai), Somnath (Gujarat) and Jagannath Puri (Odisha). The list that is actually live right now is on /darshan and changes as temples come online. Aarti timings are shown in your local time zone.

Yes. Every live darshan stream on Darshya is free, with no signup and no paid tier above it. There is no recorded-aarti library, no multi-camera angle and no HD download to buy — the only monthly devotee subscription we sell is unlimited AI Pandit chat at ₹499, which has nothing to do with darshan.

Yes. Booking as an NRI costs 2.5 times the domestic price of the same puja. The flat platform fee and the optional prasad-delivery fee are the same for everyone and are not multiplied. We show the NRI price in US dollars, but Razorpay charges the order in INR, and the booking screen shows the exact rupee amount next to the dollar figure. You pay with UPI, an Indian card or net banking; cards issued outside India and PayPal are coming soon. You can switch any page back to rupees.

Not today. Every donation gets a numbered receipt (format DR-YYYYMMDD-XXXX), auto-generated within 24 hours, emailed to you and downloadable from your account — but it is proof of payment, not a tax-exemption certificate. It carries no donee registration number and no donee PAN, so no Indian income-tax deduction can be claimed against it. We will say so here the day that registration is issued.

Domestic India: UPI (all apps), credit/debit cards (Visa/Mastercard/RuPay), net banking, wallets (Paytm, PhonePe, Amazon Pay). NRI users: the same methods, billed in INR (cards issued outside India and PayPal are coming soon). Cash on Delivery is offered only at store checkout, not for puja bookings; we do not accept cheques.

Once a refund is issued it goes back to the method you paid with. UPI, wallets, Indian cards and net banking: 5-7 business days. International cards: up to 14 business days (timing set by your card issuer, not by Darshya). Your booking page shows the status of the refund. These are the same bands published on our Refund Policy page — we do not quote a different timeline anywhere.

Yes, this is one of our most popular use cases. You book online from anywhere, your family in India can attend in person if they wish, or the entire puja can be conducted with only your sankalp recited by the pandit. Video proof is posted to your booking page regardless of location.

Yes, our Gift Puja feature lets you (NRI sender) pay for a puja and name a recipient in India. The sankalp is recited in the recipient's name and the video proof appears on your booking page. Available at /gift on our site.

No. NRI Premium is not currently sold. We withdrew it because we could not yet deliver every benefit it advertised, and we will not charge for benefits we cannot honour. Nothing has been billed. Existing subscriptions are unaffected and keep running to their end date. Nothing else on Darshya bills you annually — bookings, donations and the optional paid add-ons are each charged one at a time.

Yes, our yatra desk handles end-to-end pilgrimage planning — Char Dham, 12 Jyotirlinga, Sapta Puri, Pancha Bhoota and custom itineraries. We coordinate hotels, transport (private cab/bus), VIP darshan slots where available, and meals. Inquiry-only model: submit at /yatra/{slug}/book and our team replies by email.

The Char Dham temples are open only April-October, closed November-March due to Himalayan snow. Best windows: May-June (post-snow, pre-monsoon) and September-October (post-monsoon, clear skies). Avoid June-August monsoon — landslides frequently block roads. Helicopter packages reduce yatra from 12 days to 2-3 days.

Yes, since 2022 the Uttarakhand government has mandated online registration on uttarakhandtourism.gov.in for all Char Dham pilgrims. Our yatra desk handles this for you when you book a package. Registration is free; daily caps apply on each temple.