{"id":193659,"date":"2016-02-26T14:59:57","date_gmt":"2016-02-26T14:59:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=193659"},"modified":"2016-02-26T14:59:57","modified_gmt":"2016-02-26T14:59:57","slug":"pilgrims-flock-to-indian-temple-said-to-grant-u-s-visas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=193659","title":{"rendered":"Pilgrims flock to Indian temple said to grant U.S. visas"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Donald Trump, look away now — devotees are flocking to a temple in southern India where a Hindu god is said to help grant U.S. and other visas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

About 500 years old, the Chilkur Balaji temple near Hyderabad was built as a shrine to Lord Balaji, a form of the Hindu god Vishnu.<\/p>\n

Typically, worshippers perform a wish-making ceremony that includes making 11 laps around the inner temple. Sometimes they proffer their passports and make offerings of fresh coconuts.<\/p>\n

If the wish comes true, they must return and make a further 108 laps.<\/p>\n

In recent years it’s gained a reputation for helping smooth the red tape for Indians seeking overseas visas — so much so that it’s now known as the “visa temple.”<\/p>\n

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Student dreams<\/span> \u2013 Several decades ago it gained a reputation among students wishing to travel to the United States who claimed that praying at the temple increased their chances in visa lotteries.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The trend began several decades ago, mostly among students heading to the United States. They would make the rounds and seemingly get luckier with visa lotteries.<\/p>\n

“My own sister is in Belgium, in Brussels right now, so yes, it does work,” pilgrim Manjunath Singh tells CNN while performing his wish-making laps at the temple.<\/p>\n

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Over the years the temple’s reputation has grown by word of mouth and now attracts crowds who line up to make the rounds.<\/p>\n

Its popularity is helped by pamphlets handed out at the temple that contain testimonies of success.<\/p>\n

“Our lord is answering the prayers,” says one priest, S. Rangarajan.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

Source: CNN<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump, look away now — devotees are flocking to a temple in southern India where a Hindu god is said to help grant U.S. and other visas. About 500 years old, the Chilkur Balaji temple near Hyderabad was built as a shrine to Lord Balaji, a form of the Hindu god Vishnu. Typically, worshippers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-193659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-odd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=193659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193659\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=193659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=193659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=193659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}