Mehandipur Balaji Temple – The Sanctuary of Exorcism

Situated in the Brahmbad town of Dausa district in Rajasthan, Shri Mehandipur Balaji Temple is a shrine dedicated to Lord Hanuman, one of the Chiranjivi and supreme devotee of Lord Rama. This town is located at the border of the Karauli and Dausa districts and so, this temple has special geographical existence with one of its half being in one district and another half in the other district. The Karauli counterpart of Brahmbad town is Mehandipur from which this shrine got its name. Famous for the exorcism of evil spirits, black magic and spells, this temple attracts lakhs of pilgrims every year all over the country to get rid of these negative spirits and to enter the new aura of positivity through Lord Hanuman’s worship.

The childhood of Lord Hanuman is celebrated and worshipped here and so, they are popular as Balaji, where Bala means Child in Hindi and Sanskrit. According to Hindu Ithihas, it is believed that this area was dense forest years back. Ancestors of Shri Ganeshpuriji Maharaj, the first Mahant of the shrine dreamt of Lord Balaji told him to build a temple for three powers: Ghate Wale Balaji, Pretraj Sarkar and Kotwal Bheronath. The construction of the temple took place accordingly and it is believed that the idol of Lord Balaji is self-constructed from the stones of the Aravalli hills within which the temple resides. This shrine depicts the Rajputana type of architecture having small pillared balconies.

Contrary to a regular temple, this is a place where you’ll not witness the sound of temple bells. The loud scream of possessed men and women is something that is easily audible here, but that shows the faith of devotees in Sankat Mochan to get rid of all their Sankats. No prasads are offered here to the deities, instead a black colour ball is the major seller for the shopkeepers here. It is considered unlucky to refuse them. This ball is supposed to be taken around your body five times before offering it to ritual fire, getting rid of evil spirits around you. The one who is suffering from evil spirits is popularly known as ‘Sankatwalas‘ in the local language here. They get relief from all this distress through various methods like Arzi, Sawamani, and Darkhast. 

Darkhast ritual requires you to take small Darkhast laddoos from any shop outside the temple. You will be provided with two plates containing 4-5 laddoos and all you have to do is offer these plates to the priests standing in front of the shrine. They will pick as much as they want and add them to the holy fire burning in front of the deity. The time of Darkhast is after the morning prayer and before the evening prayer. The significance of the two plates is that the first plate is to inform God that you are here to seek his blessings while the second plate is to request him to guide you for achieving your goals . After offering, you must move on and do the same for Pretraj Sarkar and Kotwal Bheronathji. After the last offering, you must eat two laddoos out of the leftover ones. The plates having more of bhog left in them are encircled by people around their head for 7 times in anticlockwise sense and then thrown away without looking backwards. After Darkhast, you are required to order for Arzi from any of the shops outside the temple. It includes 1.25 kg of Laddoos, 2.25 kg of Urad Dal and 4.25 kg of Steam Rice. This is supposed to be offer to Pretraj Sarkar and Kotwal Bheronathji in two separate containers. Before leaving the temple, if you ask for any wish, you must tell Balaji that once you come back again, you will offer Sawamani, a ritual of offering to be done on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

The temple has been known for years and years for exorcism, which attracts international and scientific attention. In 2013, a team of international scientists, scholars and psychiatrists from Germany, Netherlands, AIIMS (New Delhi) and University of Delhi started a study to evaluate and analyse all the aspects and rituals followed in this shrine. Apart from Tuesdays and Saturdays, the festival of Hanuman Jayanti, Dusshera and Holi grabs special attention of the pilgrims, as it is believed to be the most auspicious time to emancipate the evil spirits.