Silica gels can be chemically modified using organic precursors producing organically modified silica (ORMOSIL), a class of novel materials for hosting varieties of organic and inorganic substrates. Ormosil matrixed materials show an enhanced activity during catalysis, photochemical activities like absorption and emission, electrochemical sensitivities, sensing of gases, solvents, pH of solution and biomolecules, etc. Ormosil-based materials can be used as efficient protective coatings and can be utilized in designing wave guides that can carry out excellent photonic transmission of information. The synthetic and chemical modification of ormosil and some of the above applications have been discussed.