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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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Indians Pray to the 'Visa God'

Priest uses deity to hook believers hoping to work in the West

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(Newser) – Every week, 100,000 worshipers converge on a temple in Hyderabad, India, that honors a local incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. But the faithful aren’t praying for good health or fortune: They seek visas to the US and other Western countries, and the deity they’re praying to is known as the Visa God, the Wall Street Journal reports. 

The temple’s head priest coined the nickname a few years back, when the site was getting two or three visitors a week. The temple's surging popularity reflects the mounting frustration educated Indians face in attempting to win one of the 65,000 slots for a US H-1B visa. “I’ve never head of anyone who’s gone to the temple whose visa got rejected,” says one believer.

"I named him the Visa God," said C.S. Gopala Krishna, 63-year-old head priest of the Chilkur Balaji Temple, who was searching for a new hook to increase popularity.   (Shutterstock.com)
Two cows walk down the street in Hyderabad, India.
Two cows walk down the street in Hyderabad, India.   (Wikimedia Commons)
Crowds in the streets of Hyderabad.
Crowds in the streets of Hyderabad.   (Wikimedia Commons)
The temple of the
The temple of the "Visa God," Lord Balaji, attracts over 100,000 visitors a week, eager for visas to travel or move to the U.S. and other Western countries.   (Shutterstock.com)
An image of Chilkur Balaji, the deity worshiped at the popular
An image of Chilkur Balaji, the deity worshiped at the popular "Visa temple."   (Public Domain)
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Worshippers of Chilkur Balaji, the VISA God.   (noaaeed (YouTube))

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