And the cost? Rs 40 lakh to Rs 50 lakh per homa! The turnover for the astrology industry is a whopping Rs 500 crore to Rs 600 crore in Elections 2009, say those who know the business.

``We have 62 homas/pujas exclusively for elections. The cost depends on the size of the constituency. A homa for Bangalore Central will be relatively cheaper than that for Bangalore Rural,'' said noted astrologer K N Somayaji, who is leading a team of 300 priests, currently performing the rituals for politicians.

And if you thought outsourcing existed only in the IT industry, think again. Over 300 Namboodries (priests from Kerala) have been deployed to perform pujas and homas for politicians. ``We have confirmed orders from all political parties across the country except the Communist party. While some have asked for Athirudra and Sahasrajaadi, some others want Vashikarana (to bring others under your control) and Viparitha Prathyangara to be performed to increase their chances of winning. Some are a combination of homa and while some have meditation and other rituals,'' he stated.

Some go on for days while some of them must be held for 72 hours uninterrupted. This election the bookings have gone up by 20% to 30%. Pujas are in great demand. Interestingly, if a Congress and BJP candidate wants to perform the same ritual then there will be conflict of interest. So astrologers follow the first-cum-first basis.

The cost includes the priests' consultation fee which ranges from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 per day, his logistics and materials. If the constituency is far, then priests are flown in special aircraft too. This because priests who perform it need to visit the constituency too.

Its perhaps only elections that bring all religions together. Astrologers confirmed that politicians from all religions are performing the pujas and homas. For now, secularism seems to be intact.