Are you planning to go abroad? Do you explore the foreign lands that world has to offer? Are you in immediate requirement of Visa? Don’t worry all you have to do apply for Visa at the respective nation’s consulate and buy the following things:
1. Coconut
2. Garland (with flowers of your choice).
3. Camphor
4. A pack of sandal(incense) sticks, locally called as ‘Agarbattis’
5. A toy aeroplane
No. I am serious!! That is all you require to obtain a visa,(Or at least majority of Visa aspirants believe so). Yes, many people in India are now taking up their Visa approval issues directly with their respective deities.
India is a state of many religions and a land of various worships. India have its share of Atheists, but most of the Indians are deeply religious. Indian society has so many gods that no other country in world even dares to facilitate. People pray different gods on different occasions for support on different needs. With millions of people visiting temples and mandirs every day, these places are the most populous localities in the country.
In the past decade, the number of people seeking journey to foreign nations has increased drastically. The need for Visa was never more competitive or (desirable as a matter of fact). So people gradually started offering the prayers to their deities with the specificity of Visa requirement, which in turn led to the Dawn of ‘Visa Temples’.
As far as our sources tell us, It all started two decades ago when a bunch of software engineers got their Visas approved after offering their prayers at the Chilkur Balaji Temple , and thus the legend of ‘Visa God’ was born. It is now a popular belief that who ever offers their prayers at the temple will get their Visas approved, and many people recite the incidents where their prayers were answered.
The temple is located in Hyderabad of South Indian state Telangana. Now the temple attracts around 70000 devotees on a common day and number mounts to 1 lakh on Saturdays. Most of Devotees do ‘108 rounds’ around the temple as the part of ritual. (No wonder Hyderabad got most number of Visa approvals in the past year).
Another such temple is a 150-year-old Sikh Gurdwara (temple) in Talhan village in the northern Indian state of Punjab where thousands of Sikhs go to offer the ‘Visa Prayers’. Many believe that praying at the Shaheed Baba Nihal Singh Gurdwara will improve their chances of securing a visa. Devotees even bring offerings to the god. They bring toy aeroplanes to Gurdwara so that god will bless them with a visa and safe journey.
