Garima Govind Rao, with her friend, visits the Radha Krishna Temple in Kota, Rajasthan, north-western India, every evening. She believes the wishes on the temple walls come true and has written more than 10 to the deity. All photos: Taniya Dutta / The National
Messages on the 'wall of belief' at the Radha Krishna Temple include those asking for help with exams to open the doors to top universities
Kota is known as India’s “coaching factory”, where thousands of centres prepare hundreds of thousands of aspiring medical and engineering students to take university entrance exams
The messages illustrate the pressure many people feel as they sit exams in the hope of pursuing a prosperous career in a country with high unemployment
'This temple is the epicentre of the students’ faith,' says priest Dharmendra Acharya
People write on the windows, the walls and even the ceilings of the Radha Krishna Temple
The wishes are not all about achieving exam success
The Radha Krishna Temple was built in 1992 and soon became a hot spot for students in Kota seeking help and comfort
Large numbers of students visit the temple in Kota every day
The trend to leave messages started in the late 1990s and soon became a ritual
Once the doors of the temple open, students rush inside with a pen and write their messages
The temple walls have to be repainted every two weeks to allow enough space for students to write down their wishes
Many messages on the temple walls are pleas for personal success, but some are dedicated to siblings and friends who are also preparing for entrance exams
The temple is dedicated to the Hindu deity Krishna and his consort Radha
Among the messages are pleas to win a place at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and for help with entrance exams to study medicine
Some students gather outside temple during lunch breaks or in the evenings after leaving a coaching centre, where they can study for up to six hours at a time
Competition for places at India's top universities is fierce and the pressure prompts students to appeal to divine powers
Some wishes are written by students wanting to make their parents proud
'I can't tell you my wish, but it was fulfilled,' said one regular visitor to the Radha Krishna temple
