Religion in the Digital Age: Exploring Online Religious Practices and Spiritual Communities in Post-Pandemic India

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated a profound transformation in the practice of religion in India, as physical restrictions on temple visits, congregational worship, and pilgrimage compelled the rapid migration of religious life onto digital platforms. While digital religion has been an active field of scholarly inquiry for two decades, the post-pandemic Indian religious landscape presents distinctive features that warrant focused analysis. This article examines the development of online religious practices and spiritual communities in post-pandemic India, drawing on a critical literature review methodology and theoretical frameworks from the sociology of religion, mediatization theory, and digital religion studies. Analysing peer-reviewed scholarship, ethnographic studies, and platform-based ecosystem reports published between 2018 and 2025, the study identifies four major patterns: the institutionalization of livestreamed temple darshan and ritual broadcasts; the proliferation of guru-led digital spiritual communities and subscription-based religious content; the rise of devotional content economies on social media platforms; and the emergence of hybrid offline-online religious participation patterns. The analysis engages with the work of Heidi Campbell, Stewart Hoover, Christopher Helland, and others, while drawing on Indian scholars whose work foregrounds the specific features of South Asian religious traditions. Findings indicate that digital religion in India is neither a simple transposition of offline practice nor a complete rupture with traditional forms. It is a hybrid configuration that reshapes authority, community, and embodiment in religious life. The article concludes that the post-pandemic period has produced a durable hybridization of religious practice, with significant implications for religious institutions, scholarly understanding, and inter-religious dynamics.