This article was last updated and fact checked on December 11, 2022 by Mani Karthik.
It sounds weird to the modern mind but it’s true. People in India, go to this Temple, to pray for US visas.
Hyderabad, is one of the leading cities in India where the number of US visa applicants is high. It’s only next to Bangalore, the silicon valley of India.
What makes Hyderabad interesting other than the number of applicants for US visas, is the existence of this temple in the city of Chilkur. The belief among devotees of this temple is that, if you pray to the deity there, you might actually get a US visa.
Which is probably the reason why almost a lakh (1,00,000) devotees visit it every week. Almost all of them, visa applicants to USA. And their wish? To get US visas.
The temple in Chilkur is a Balaji (A Hindu deity) temple and not a big one. Devotees do “parikramas”, 108 times at this temple to get US visas. Parikramas are where you roll on the ground, praying to the deity, around the temple. Now, that is some dedication.
My guess is that the visa story is just a media creation. But the number of visitors to the temple, who are applicants of US visas, says there’s something going on.
Here is a CNN report from 2016 about the visa temple.
