The deity of the Khadia temple is said to have 100 per cent record in expediting overseas travel
AHMEDABAD: He flew into Sri Lanka when it had no airport or immigration authority, and moved a whole mountain to complete a fig of a task.
So for Lord Hanuman it is no challenge to organise visas for his devotees, which for frequent-flying mortals is a forbidding procedure complicated by the monkey business of agents and mystifying forms.
The world's only visa-expediting Hanuman operates out of Ahmedabad, and his busy practice is located at a temple that is wrapped by the narrow by-lanes of Desai-ni-pol, Khadia.
The devout who throng the shrine swear that their deity guarantees 100% visa approval for any foreign country.
And they are especially grateful because no processing or consultancy fee is charged. 'Visa Hanuman' attends to the needs of dozens of visa aspirants every day.
But his counseling sessions are packed on Saturdays, with nearly 750 people filing their appeals for his consideration.
According to temple authorities, devotees became aware of Khadia Hanuman's visa power only recently. "The Hanuman idol is 250 years old and is famous for its miracles," said the temple's caretaker and priest, Himanshu Mehta. “Just before Diwali, eight applicants had their visas approved after seeking Hanumanji's blessings. It is said that Hanumanji himself puts the approval stamp on the passports.”
Mehta, who had applied for a US visa, recounted his story. “My wife and I appeared at a visa-interview counter at which almost all the applicants had been rejected,” he said.
“But we got the visas only because we had sought the blessings of Visa Hanuman.”
Today, scores of devotees, like Mehta, seek Visa Hanuman’s intervention. They submit their visa files for the god's perusal on a platter, and some of them add expensive offerings as a token of their thankfulness.
One such devotee is Ratna Parikh, a Satellite resident. Parikh was hoping to see her newborn granddaughter in Canada but she had to endure the heartbreaking blows of constant visa rejections before a divine intervention from the god cleared the way for her.
The world’s only visa-expediting Hanuman operates from a temple that is wrapped by the narrow by-lanes of Desai-ni-pol, Khadia. “I had been rejected thrice and had lost all hope when somebody told me about Visa Hanuman," Parikh said. “After placing my visa file and passport at Hanumanji's feet and seeking his blessings, I was immediately granted a visa.”
Having heard about Hanuman's 100% visa-expediting record, people from across the state come to temple. And their testimonials assert that Visa Hanuman's grace extends beyond travel visas to student and immigration visas as well. Parikh walked barefoot to thank Hanuman.
Amdavadis whose visas have been approved because Hanuman's good offices, make donations to the temple. Kirit Pasawala, who had been denied a visa to the US twice, donated a silver crown after the blessings turned things around for him.
