Rise of Khatu Shyam Devotion: The pattern of faith in cities never remains the same, just as fashion and lifestyle trends keep changing from time to time, in the same way the centers of devotion also shift from time to time.

Sometimes an increasing number of Sai Baba temples were seen, sometimes there was such a period of devotion to Shani Dev that a new Shani temple was built in every area. Now for the last several years, there has been a wave of Khatu Shyam Baba.

Cities like Bhopal are the latest example of this, where the wave of devotion that started from a small temple has today transformed into many big centres. This change of faith is not limited to just one city, but has become a part of the emerging religious trend across the country.

Khatu Shyam, God of Young India

According to a media report, Khatu Shyam Mandir has emerged as the new god of young India and social media (Instagram, Reels) has helped in taking his popularity to every household. It has also been told in the report that, 4 Khatu Shyam temples have been built in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh alone.

There has been a sharp rise in the popularity of Khatu Shyam in the last several years. According to a report, the number of devotees in Khatu Shyam Dham located in Rajasthan reached crores in the year 2023-24. In 2024, this figure will increase to 2.36 crores.

Trend of faith changed in cities like Bhopal

The first statue of Shani Dev was installed 100 years ago in Barkhedi, Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh. Then, after two decades, the process of building Shani temples started to such an extent that their number has reached 50.

Similarly, the first Sai temple of the city was built in 1100 quarter between 1985-87. With the passage of time, the number of Sai temples reached 40 in different parts of the city. Now for the last 3 years the wave of faith has shifted to Khatu Shyam.

The number of his temples in Bhopal city has increased to 10 in three years. And it is estimated that the number of devotees of Khatu Shyam across the city has crossed 1 lakh.

City’s first Khatu Shyam Temple in Sarvadharma Kolar

Sarvadharma Kolar where a small temple of Khatu Shyam was built in the year 2002 in the ancient Hanuman temple. Till three years ago, this was the only Khatu Shyam temple in the city, now it has become the biggest Khatu Shyam temple in the city.

Faith never remains the same, it always changes with the influence of society, time and culture. From Sai Baba to Shanidev and now Khatu Shyam’s popularity is increasing very fast. Cities like Bhopal are just examples, the real reason is that the map of faith is changing across the country.

This change is not a sign of growth or decline of any one deity, but is proof of the fact that the flow of devotion in modern India is not stable but keeps changing continuously.

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