Located near the banks of Osman Sagar Lake in Hyderabad, the Chilkur Balaji Temple is popularly known as Visa Baba temple. This visa granting is revered by people aspiring to travel abroad. Typically a devotee visits the temple before appearing for a visa interview and visits again to offer gratitude after being granted a visa. HolidayIQ traveller Donarun Das says “Situated 55 km from the city centre, this temple is where devotees come to seek blessings for an easy visa approval process.”

20 Ratings | 10 Reviews

Taking the fad for foreign trips to another level is the Airplane Temple in Jalandhar. Atthe Sant Baba Nihal Singh Gurudwara, devotees offer toy planes, hoping their dreams of migrating to the West comes true. Also known as the Hawai Jahaz Gurudwara, the shrine is believed to possess a power even greater than that of immigration officials.

The Bondel Road Temple is far from any conventional temple. The temple is a shrine for the Bollywood actor. There is even a devotional hymn sung and dedicated to him every day. The temple is decorated with montage of photographs from the actor’s life. A pilgrimage for the Amitabh Bachchan fan, the temple pushes the boundaries for Bollywood fanatics.

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Om Banna Temple located near Jodhpur worships a very unique idol. A 350cc Royal Enfield Bullet motorbike is the main deity of the Bullet Baba Temple. It is said that the Om Singh Rathore was travelling to Choti when his bike met with an accident and he was killed. It is reported that the motorbike kept reappearing at the accident site despite constant efforts by the local police to keep it under lock. A temple was later erected at the accident site. It is believed that Om Banna’s spirit helps distressed travellers.

At the Khabees Baba Temple located near Lucknow, devotees offers liquor to the deity. The temple has no idol or priests. Instead, it has two slipper-shaped structures that are taken to symbolise the feet of the Saint Khabees Baba. It is believed that Khabees Baba used to drink every evening and had a knack of curing people’s illnesses in his inebriated state. Liquor around the symbolic feet is collected and distributed as prasad among the devotees.

The peculiar thing about the Bharat Mata Temple located in Varanasi is that instead of conventional gods and goddesses, the temple has a map of India carved out of marble. It is an epitome of patriotism; Bharat Mata Temple is a dedication to Mother India.

3 Ratings | 2 Reviews

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There is nothing peculiar about the idol at this Kali temple located in Tangra in Kolkata. But what’s different is the bhog, which comprises chopsuey, noodles and other vegetable dishes!

How could we not mention the temple dedicated to Sachin Tendulkar! Located at Kaimur in Bihar, a life size marble statue of the cricketer donning the official blue jersey has been installed and is worshipped.

HolidayIQ Traveller Sachin Gupta says, "Karni Mata temple is about 30 KM away from Bikaner city. Its in the Deshnok village on the Jodhpur highway. It is a nice place to visit if you are a religious person. Also its a place that kids will love to visit. It's quite interesting to watch rats being taken care of, fed and maintained well too. A wonderful experience for both kids and elders."

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Planning on ‘Stealing The Show’? Might as well hit the extreme. As a sign of gratitude for her involvement in creating Telangana State, the Congress leaders have constructed a temple for the AICC President Sonia Gandhi. Apart from the white marble statue of Sonia Gandhi, this temple also has portraits of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi on the temple walls.

Edited: The location for 'Karni Mata' Temple has been corrected as one of our readers pointed out the error.

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