(This story originally appeared in on May 7, 2016)

The city's Hindu devotees are finding it difficult to perform pooja at a few temples, courtesy the plastic ban.Some of the popular temples in the city have put up notice boards stating they are discontinuing some of the most popular poojas as they are unable to perform them at a 'low cost' due to the plastic ban. The temples are also asking devotees to opt for more expensive poojas.For example, the Vinayaka temple in Yelahanka New Town has displayed a notice board stating it would not conduct its most popular Satyanarayana pooja costing Rs 10 as it is not financially viable. If devotees wish to continue with the pooja, they can opt for a Rs 25 pooja.Speaking to Bangalore Mirror, one temple administrator said: "The specialty of any pooja is associated with the prasadam we serve to the devotees. The Rs 10 pooja was definitely a big hit among devotees from North Bengaluru. However, now, we are unable to dispense the prasadam, teertha or rasayana as plastic cups are unavailable.Hence, we are forced to depend on aluminium foil. We tried to experiment with foil, but it is turning out to be more expensive than what we charge for the pooja. Hence, we decided to discontinue it from May 6.""Devotees believe their pooja is never complete without prasadam. With no plastic available, we requested devotees to bring their own boxes. However, many of them wouldn't do so and when we expressed our helplessness to provide prasadam they are enraged and start arguing with us. To avoid unnecessary problems, we have discontinued several pooja services," said Satyanarayana Sharma, who works as a temple priest.YB Sridhara Murthy, another popular priest at the Mutturayaswamy temple and other temples in Bengaluru North, said, "We are definitely facing a grave crisis. For solid prasadam it is okay to use areacanut leaf, but it is very difficult with liquids. Overall, any pooja comes with packaging. Though we support the plastic ban, the total ban has definitely created trouble for us. We are somehow managing to get plastic covers here and there, but in days to come, many of the lower denomination poojas are sure to be phased out." Kukke Subramanya ED CU Poovappa said the temple has been experimenting with cloth bags to offer prasadam in and has also gone for online tenders to procure such bags.