Most devotees visiting the Chilkur Balaji temple near Hyderabad, India are hoping to be granted visas for overseas travel.
Chilkur Balaji temple —
Most devotees visiting the Chilkur Balaji temple near Hyderabad, India are hoping to be granted visas for overseas travel.
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People visiting the temple make 11 rounds of its inner shrine in the hope of having their wish granted. If it is, they must return to make a further 108 laps.
Doing the rounds —
People visiting the temple make 11 rounds of its inner shrine in the hope of having their wish granted. If it is, they must return to make a further 108 laps.
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The temple was built around 500 years ago as a shrine to Lord Balaji, a form of Hindu god Vishnu.
Hindu deity —
The temple was built around 500 years ago as a shrine to Lord Balaji, a form of Hindu god Vishnu.
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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.
Student dreams —
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.
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Literature handed out at the temple offers testimonies of success from previous worshippers.
Success claims —
Literature handed out at the temple offers testimonies of success from previous worshippers.
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"My own sister is in Belgium, in Brussels right now, so yes, it does work," one pilgrim, Manjunath Singh, tells CNN
'It works' —
"My own sister is in Belgium, in Brussels right now, so yes, it does work," one pilgrim, Manjunath Singh, tells CNN
NOAH SEELAM/AFP/Getty Images
"Our lord is answering the prayers," a priest at the temple, S. Rangarajan, tells CNN.
Prayers answered —
"Our lord is answering the prayers," a priest at the temple, S. Rangarajan, tells CNN.
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