Rajasthan's Kota is known to be the preeminent place where studies, who dream of getting into the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and cracking the difficult Joint Entrance Test the institute conducts, come to prepare for the exams. At Kota, a temple dedicated to the Hindu deity Krishna and his consort Radha has become very popular. Reason? Peer pressure to get into the IITs, strenuous studies, and homesickness. The temple has become famous because students write their wishes and aspirations on a segment of the temple, known as 'the wall of beliefs', hoping their wishes would be heard by the deity.
Some of the wishes scribbled on the wall are “Please let me get selected in NEET 2023”, “Dear God, please give my concentration back”, “AIIMS Delhi please”, and “IIT Delhi for me and Google for my brother”. Besides this, other wishes on the wall are about making families back home proud, removing negative thoughts, and getting concentration and focus back.
As reported by the news agency PTI, not only students, but their parents also make it a point to visit the temple whenever they come to meet their children. Kashish Gupta, a JEE aspirant from Maharashtra, told: “It is not like someone will write that I want No 1 rank and he or she will get it but the popular idea is that give your hundred per cent and write your wish accordingly.”
Pragati Sahu, a NEET aspirant from Madhya Pradesh, said she comes to the temple and offers her prayers or does meditation whenever she feels low or stressed due to exam preparations.
Priyanka Mittal, the mother of a JEE aspirant said that she got to know about this temple when she went to Kota for her son’s admission but she could not visit the temple then. Mittal further said that she believes hard work fulfills one’s aspirations and not writing on some temple wall. She, however, added, “But many of my son’s seniors, who made the wishes, got selected so I also decided to come this time and he has written his wish on the wall as well.”
According to the priests of the temple, more than 300 students visit the temple daily. Trilok Sharma, one of the priests at the temple says that the walls are repainted every two months because there is no room for others to scribble their wishes.
But how did this temple become so popular among aspirants in Kota and their parents back home? According to the temple priests, a few students came here a long time ago and wrote their wishes on the temple walls asking for selection in IIT JEE or medical entrance exams.
Later, the parents of two students visited the temple and offered to make a donation claiming the wishes of their children had been fulfilled. Thereafter, the temple gained popularity among aspirants and their parents.
(With agency inputs)
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