Chilkur Balaji Temple, popularly known as "Visa Balaji Temple'', is an ancient

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hin ...

of Lord Balaji on the banks of Osman Sagar in

Rangareddy District Ranga Reddy district ( R. R. district) is a district in the Indian state of Telangana. The district headquarters is located at Lakdikapool, Hyderabad. The district was named after the former deputy chief minister of the United Andhra Pradesh, ...

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 3 ...

. It is one of the oldest temples in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

Dist earlier now in Rangareddy Dist. built during the time of Madanna and Akkanna, the uncles of

Bhakta Ramadas Kancharla Gopanna ( te, కంచర్ల గోపన్న) ( – 1688), popularly known as Bhakta Ramadasu or Bhadrachala Ramadasu ( te, భద్రాచల రామదాసు), was a 17th-century devotee of the Hindu god Rama, a sain ...

. This temple has no

hundi A hundi or hundee is a financial instrument that developed in Medieval India for use in trade and credit transactions. Hundis are used as a form of Remittances to India, remittance instrument to money order, transfer money from place to place, as ...

and neither accepts any money from devotees. VAK Books also known as the Voice of Temples with religious news is available here. This is one of the special Temples in India with no green channel or privileges for VIP's. The only other such temple is the Jalaram temple in Virpur (Rajkot), Gujarat. This temple fought and won the right to stay out of government control. The only another such temple is "Ramanuj Kot", a temple in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

Circumambulations

During a visit the devotee goes through the usual rituals of prayer, including 11

circumambulation Circumambulation (from Latin ''circum'' around and ''ambulātus ''to walk) is the act of moving around a sacred object or idol. Circumambulation of temples or deity images is an integral part of Hindu and Buddhist devotional practice (known in S ...

s of the inner shrine, and makes a vow. Once the wish is fulfilled devotees then walk 108 times around the sanctum sanctorum. The majority of wishes by devotees are visa related, thus Chilkur Balaji is also referred to as 'Visa' Balaji.Visa Temple
''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'', by Vamsee Juluri, 30 March 2006 The 11 circumambulations represent the secret of creation — 11 means "1 soul and 1 body" — uniting both with devotion and full determination to fulfill wish, dedicate on the lord; there is no second, everything is god. In the 108 circumambulations, 1 represents the ''Existence, Almighty, God'' (''Paramathma'', Balaji in the minds of the devotee), 0 represents ''Creation'' (Illusionary World, ''Jagath'') and 8 represents the time ''Human Body'' takes to come to this universe-8 months (''Jivatma'').

References

External links

Official site

Chilukur Balaji Temple

Chilkur Balaji Temple Timings

{{Authority control 14th-century establishments 14th-century establishments in India 14th-century Hindu temples Hindu temples in Hyderabad, India Hindu pilgrimage sites in India Buildings and structures in Hyderabad, India Vishnu temples Vaishnavism Visa policy of the United States Visa policy of the United Kingdom Visa policies in Europe Tourist attractions in Hyderabad, India