At some temples in India, Venkateswara Swamy, Sri Ganesha, and Sankatmochan Hanuman double up as “Visa Gods” for hundreds of thousands of Indians wishing to study, work, live and settle abroad. Pesky paperwork, convoluted process, visa appointment delay, fears of rejection, and likes drive ambitious individuals with their passports in folded hands to the visa temples where the deities are believed to answer their prayers for visa approvals. After all, Indians are known for their steadfast faith in the divine power.
What makes India the largest beneficiary of H1B and L1 visas issued by the United States every year? It is the visa temples in India, and one of them is in Telangana. Hardly 25km from the IT corridor of Hyderabad City, Sri Chilkur Balaji Temple grants visa boons to STEM students and software professionals aspiring to live the American Dream. Though the temple is nearly 500 years old, it came to be known as Visa Balaji temple in Hyderabad only in the 1980s.
Hundreds of visa seekers from far and wide throng the temple daily, with the crowd swelling on weekends during visa seasons. Hyderabad’s Chilkur Balaji Temple is believed to expedite the visa paperwork, remove obstacles from the process, and minimize the visa interview delay (if there is any) for those who make 11 pradakshinas around the sanctum sanctorum, chanting ‘Govinda’ with devotion. They revisit the temple and perform 108 pradakshinas out of gratitude to the deity if they are blessed with their desired visas to travel/settle abroad.
No wonder why the twin states of Telugu-speaking people receive a majority of US student visas and US employment visas every year.
Let’s travel straight to Punjab where a village named Talhan near Jalandhar has one of the visa temples in India. Unlike other visa temples where coconuts and flowers are offered to the deity, the Shaheed Baba Nihal Singh Gurudwara receives toy planes from the visa seekers. Not only students aspiring foreign degrees or working professionals looking to have a better life overseas, but also parents seeking well-to-do NRI grooms for their daughters visit the gurudwara in Talhan.
Unsurprisingly, the market outside the gurudwara has several shops dealing in toy planes of different sizes, which sell like hot cakes. The prevailing belief is that those offering prayers at the Shaheed Baba Nihal Singh Gurudwara in Talhan are blessed with the increased likelihood of international travel to USA, Canada, the UK, and Australia. The 150-year-old gurudwara features a huge replica of aircraft atop its roof similar to various rooftop sculptures in some Punjab villages with NRI population.
Gujarat is no exception in the context of a visa god or goddess whose divine intervention is ritually sought to expediate visa approvals. Tens of hundreds of visa aspirants from across Gujarat and Rajasthan visit Chamatkarik Hanuman Mandir in Khadia, Ahmedabad every day. The presiding deity of this modest temple is locally known as ‘Visa Hunauman’, as Lord Hanuman was the only one to have travelled overseas (without documents) in search of Devi Sita.
The visa Hanuman Mandir in Ahmedabad earned the moniker ‘Chamatkarik’ as it is believed to have done miracles even for those who had fewer chances for visa approval. The temple priests perform certain rituals to invoke Lord Hanuman and seek His blessings for devotees wishing to travel abroad.
The national capital, New Delhi, is home to two such temples granting visa boons to Indians, irrespective of caste, community, and economic status. One of the two is Pracheen Hanuman Mandir near the VFS Global Application Center at Connaught Place. Among the oldest and most popular temples in Delhi, Pracheen Hanuman Mandir is a go-to destination for those who dream of taking flights from New Delhi to USA and other countries for better opportunities.
Also, B1/B2 visa seekers visit the temple as their travel plans often take a backseat due to visa appointment delays at the US Embassy, New Delhi (where 475 days is the current wait time).
Located on IGNOU Road, Chamatkari Visa Wale Hanuman Mandir is another such place in Delhi for those awaiting coveted US visa stamps on their passports. International travel aspirants and visa applicants write their problems in red ink on a piece of paper and offer it at the feet of Lord hanuman in the temple. Interestingly, this visa temple keeps a register for those who write ‘thank you’ notes as a gesture of gratitude if their visa issues are resolved.
The trail of visa temples across India ends at the Sri Lakshmi Visa Ganapathy Temple in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Located within 10km from the US Consulate in Chennai City, the temple is frequented by troubled visa seekers with passports in one hand and coconuts in the other hand. Sri Ganesha, the god of happy beginnings, is revered as the remover of visa-related obstacles for one’s international journey at this temple. Since visa approval marks the beginning of an international trip, irrespective of the purpose, Tamil Nadu’s only visa temple in Chennai has become a beacon of hope for those anticipating visa delays or fearing visa interviews.
