This Gurudwara is flocked by people wishing to get their visas approved!

For many people in India, and in other nations, a lifelong dream is to go abroad, earn in pounds and dollars, and live a lavish life. But, these dreams are often quashed by borders, weak passports, and rejected Visas. People wish to immigrate to countries like Canada or the UK for better education, employment opportunities, and better living conditions, but not all of them make it to the end.

And so, a temple (Gurudwara) in Punjab, India, has come up as a solution to people’s visa woes. The ‘Shaheed Baba Nihal Singh Gurdwara’ is now known as the ‘Visa Gurudwara’ and legend has it that people can fulfill their abroad wishes with a simple and unique offering. It is located about 10 kilometres from Jalandhar and is frequented by people looking for a solution to their moving abroad problems.

(Image: Sikh Riders/Facebook)

Some temples ask people to offer money, others ask them to offer sweets, and some others accept clothes or colours as offerings. But, in the ‘Shaheed Baba Nihal Singh Gurdwara’, devotees offer toy airplanes! Yes, you read that right. These toy planes, often toy versions and replicas of real commercial jets, are a symbol of the devotee's wish to travel abroad.

Among the offerings of airplanes, the ones that people offer and spot the most are Boeings and Vistaras, the two airline companies that take people to their dream destinations.

Just outside the Gurudwara, and the roads that lead to it, there are small shops where people keep replicas of Vistara planes, Air India replicas, Boeing jets, and much more for people to buy and offer to the Gurudwara, so that next time they apply their visa gets approved.

Although there is no mention of such temples or Gurudwaras in the scriptures, the local lore and legend say that one time there was a boy who promised that if his Visa abroad was issued and approved, he would come back to offer something precious to the Gurudwara. As time went on, the boy did come back, becoming an ‘NRI’, and offered a toy plane to the Gurudwara fulfilling his promise to offer something symbolic and precious to him. As word spread about him, more and more people came to ‘Shaheed Baba Nihal Singh Gurdwara’ to offer toy planes and wish for their Visa approvals.

Well, many would be surprised to know this, but ‘Shaheed Baba Nihal Singh Gurdwara’ is not the only ‘Visa temple’ of India. In fact, there are 2 more extremely famous ones where devotees go with their wish to get abroad Visas approved.
For example, the Chilkur Balaji temple in Hyderabad, is also known as the ‘Visa Balaji temple’. Devotees here offer prayers to Lord Balaji, seeking his blessings for visa approvals, and it is said that many of them get their US visas approved by praying in this temple.
Along with that, there is also a ‘Sri Lakshmi Visa Ganapathy temple’ in Chennai that is quickly becoming more famous for Visa approvals. Devotees offer coconuts and other traditional items to Lord Ganesha, asking for his blessings to remove the obstacles in their visa application process.