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CHENNAI, India (AP) — Arjun Viswanathan stood in the street with his hands clasped, his eyes fixed on the idol of the Hindu deity Ganesh.

On a humid morning, the IT professional waited outside the temple, the size of a small closet – barely enough room for the solitary priest to stand and perform a puja or rituals for the beloved elephant-headed deity, believed to be the remover of obstacles.

Viswanathan was among a dozen visitors, most of them for the same purpose: to offer prayers that their US visa interviews would go smoothly and successfully. Viswanathan came the day before his interview for a work visa.

“I came here to pray for my brother’s UK visa 10 years ago and for my wife’s US visa two years ago,” he said. “They both made it. So I have faith.

The Sri Lakshmi Visa Ganapathy Temple is a few kilometers north of the airport in Chennai (formerly Madras), a bustling metropolis on India’s southeastern Coromandel Coast known for its iconic cuisine, ancient temples and churches, its silk saris, its classical music, dance and sculptures.

This “visa temple” has grown in popularity among US visa applicants over the past decade; They can be found in almost every Indian city with a US Consulate. They are usually followed by word of mouth or social networks.

A mile from the Ganesh temple is the Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Navaneetha Krishnan temple, where the monkey idol of Hanuman – a deity who has a human body and the face of a face – is believed to possess the power to obtain visas. Also known as “Anjaneya”, this god represents strength, wisdom and devotion. In this temple, he earned the nicknames “America Anjaneya” and “Visa Anjaneya”.

The temple’s longtime secretary, GC Srinivasan, said that it was only in 2016 that this temple became a “visa temple”.

“It was around this time that a few people who prayed for a visa let it be known that they were successful, and it continues,” he said.

A month ago, Srinivasan said he met someone who learned of his visa approval even as he walked around the idol of Anjaneya – a common Hindu practice of walking around a sacred object or site.

On a recent Saturday evening, worshipers decorated the idol with garlands made from betel leaves. S. Pradeep, who placed a garland on the deity, said he was not there to pray for a visa, but believed in the unique power of the god.

“He’s my favorite god,” he said. “If you sincerely pray – not just for a visa – it will come true.”

At the Ganesh temple, some devotees had success stories to share. Jyothi Bontha said her visa interview at the US Consulate in Chennai went without a hitch and she returned the offer thank you.

“They barely asked me a few questions,” she said. “I was pleasantly surprised.”

Bontha’s friend, Phani Veeranki, stood nearby, nervously clutching an envelope containing her visa application and supporting documents. Bontha and Veeranki, both computer science students from neighboring Andhra Pradesh state and childhood friends, are heading to Ohio.

Both learned about the visa temple on the social media platform Telegram.

Veeranki said she was anxious because she had a lot to do during her upcoming visa interview.

“I am the first person in my family to go to the United States,” she said. My mother is afraid to send me. But I’m excited about the opportunities I’ll have in America.

Veeranki then handed the envelope to the temple priest to place at the foot of the idol for a blessing.

“We’ve heard of applications being turned down,” she said, her hands still clasped in prayer. “I really hope mine gets approved.”

If she and Bontha go to Ohio, they want to take a trip to Niagara Falls.

“I always wanted to see it,” Bontha said.

Mohanbabu Jagannathan and his wife, Sangeetha, run the temple, which Jagannathan’s grandfather built in 1987. Their house is on a cul-de-sac, which is considered bad luck in many Asian cultures. In Chennai, it is common to find a Ganesh temple outside cul-de-sac houses due to the belief that the deity has the power to ward off evil. At first, only neighbors came to the temple, Jagannathan said.

“But over the years he started to get a weird reputation,” he said. “Many visa applicants who have come to the temple have reported success after praying here.”

In 2009, his father, Jagannathan Radhakrishnan, rebuilt the temple and added the word “visa” to the temple’s name. Jagannathan said success stories are heartwarming; visitors sometimes stop by his house to thank his family for keeping the temple open.

“I was never bothered by that,” Jagannathan said. We offer this as a service to the public. It’s a joy to see how happy people are when they come back and tell us they got their visa.

His wife said she was touched by the story of a man who came from New Delhi to pray for a visa to see his grandson after eight years apart. She recalls another time when a woman called her in tears, saying her visa application had been rejected.

“Of course, some don’t understand,” she said. “God only knows why.”

Padma Kannan brings her daughter, Monisha, who is preparing to pursue a master’s degree in marketing analysis at Clark University. Kannan thinks his daughter got her visa thanks to this powerful deity.

“I found this temple on Google,” she said. “I was so nervous for her, so I prayed here.”

Monisha Kannan said she wasn’t so sure she got her visa because of this temple, but she said she came to support her mother.

“I’m skeptical,” she said. “I’m just someone who goes with the flow.”

His mother takes a more philosophical position.

“We pray for our children and things come easily to them,” she said. “I think when they go through the rigors of life themselves, they’ll start to believe in the power of prayer.”

Viswanathan said he was not someone who usually believed in such things. When his brother got his UK visa ten years ago after offering prayers here, Viswanathan attributed it to coincidence. He became a believer when his wife got her US visa two years ago, he said.

The day after his visit to the temple this time, Viswanathan’s work visa was approved. He will be leaving for New Hampshire in a few months.

“It’s all about faith,” he said. “If you believe it will happen, it will happen.”

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Associated Press religious coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

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