Chilkur Balaji Temple is an ancient

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to who ...

of Lord Balaji on the banks of Osman Sagar in Rangareddy District in

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

. It is one of the oldest temples in the

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

Dist earlier now in Rangareddy Dist, built during the time of Madanna and Akkanna, the uncles of Bhakta Ramadas. C.S. Rangarajan is the current head priest of the Chilkur Balaji Devasthanam. The temple has no

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

and does not accept any money from devotees. The temple also has no green channel or privileges for VIPs. The only other such Hindu temples are the Jalaram temple in Virpur (Rajkot), Gujarat and "Ramanuj Kot", a temple in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. This temple fought and won the right to stay out of government control.

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 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.

References

External links

Official site

Chilukur Balaji Temple

Chilkur Balaji Temple Timings

{{Authority control 14th-century establishments in India 14th-century Hindu temples Hindu temples in Hyderabad, India Hindu pilgrimage sites in India Venkateswara temples Tourist attractions in Hyderabad, India