tks
0
Chilkur Balaji Temple - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
There are many news articles about this famous temple. This quote below is from blog like entry in 2011
US F1 Visa Balaji temple in Hyderabad gets you stamping ?
In the past few years a Balaji temple in Chilkur village outside Hyderabad has become the pilgrimage destination for US visa-seekers and famously called “US Visa temple”. It has acquired a reputation among the dollar-driven, that the deity here is particularly powerful in granting an American visa.
Typically, an aspiring American visa-seeker visits the temple a few days before his visa interview at the US consulate. During the visit, the devotee goes through the usual rituals of prayer, including three circumambulations of the inner shrine, and makes a vow.
Then, they go off with their documents and dreams to convince the US consulate officer that they are worthy of receiving the visa. If they get their visa, they return to the temple, and fulfil their vow, which is to walk 108 times around the temple.
From my experience, that isn’t easy. There are a lot of future American students and professionals out there, and the temple can be very crowded most of the time (the region has one of the largest pool of US visa applicants in the world) said Santhosh who recently got his F1 Visa stamped.
I walked the 108 rounds on one occasion to accompany a family member whose vow had been fulfilled said santhosh.
I felt all the peace and piety one does in an ancient place of worship, but also remembered something I had forgotten in the daily drudge of working; the American dream is still a privilege for many, and getting it takes grit, vision, and a little help from God.
In an age when the only news we seem to hear about religion is fundamentalist, the earnest faith of the visa-seeking devotees of this temple is a pleasant change. The religion of these devotees is not anti-modern.
Many of these people will enter cutting-edge science and technology roles in the United States. Their lives will embody the future of the world, where different countries and religions will all have to learn to coexist.
The “American Visa Temple” is a shining example of old-world religion coexisting with Andhra’s 21st century globalisation.
There are many news articles about this famous temple. This quote below is from blog like entry in 2011
US F1 Visa Balaji temple in Hyderabad gets you stamping ?
In the past few years a Balaji temple in Chilkur village outside Hyderabad has become the pilgrimage destination for US visa-seekers and famously called “US Visa temple”. It has acquired a reputation among the dollar-driven, that the deity here is particularly powerful in granting an American visa.
Typically, an aspiring American visa-seeker visits the temple a few days before his visa interview at the US consulate. During the visit, the devotee goes through the usual rituals of prayer, including three circumambulations of the inner shrine, and makes a vow.
Then, they go off with their documents and dreams to convince the US consulate officer that they are worthy of receiving the visa. If they get their visa, they return to the temple, and fulfil their vow, which is to walk 108 times around the temple.
From my experience, that isn’t easy. There are a lot of future American students and professionals out there, and the temple can be very crowded most of the time (the region has one of the largest pool of US visa applicants in the world) said Santhosh who recently got his F1 Visa stamped.
I walked the 108 rounds on one occasion to accompany a family member whose vow had been fulfilled said santhosh.
I felt all the peace and piety one does in an ancient place of worship, but also remembered something I had forgotten in the daily drudge of working; the American dream is still a privilege for many, and getting it takes grit, vision, and a little help from God.
In an age when the only news we seem to hear about religion is fundamentalist, the earnest faith of the visa-seeking devotees of this temple is a pleasant change. The religion of these devotees is not anti-modern.
Many of these people will enter cutting-edge science and technology roles in the United States. Their lives will embody the future of the world, where different countries and religions will all have to learn to coexist.
The “American Visa Temple” is a shining example of old-world religion coexisting with Andhra’s 21st century globalisation.
lane:
