Karni Mata Temple - A Temple of the Rats in India

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Bikaner is one of the popular cities to explore in Rajasthan. It is 330 Km away from Jaipur. This city has lots of attractions to visit and Karni Mata Temple is one of them also known as Rat Temple. The Temple of the Rats in India is the temple of Karni Mata - a temple of the seventeenth century that is located 35 km from Bikaner.

In a small village called Deshnok, the temple is full of rats that are there and are venerated. It is a strange place, full of mysticism of its own, but worth knowing. More important than what you are about to see is to see what happens there.

Who is Karni Mata?

Karni Mata is a Hindu goddess who corresponds to a reincarnation of the Goddess Durga, one of India's most venerated. There are many dedicated Durga temples in India, although the Karni Mata is very rare.

What Legend Says About the Rats

The existence of so many rats in the Temple of the Rats of Karni Mata is linked to a legend associated with a woman from the village of Deshnok. Legend has it that a "healer" of the village lost his son drowned in the river and, in order to bring him back to life, would have, in return, all his descendants reincarnate in rats.

The woman accepted this burden and since then, all descendants of the family who die reincarnate in rats. Believing this, the woman's living descendants, along with the temple priests, feed the rats of the village, believing that they are their ancestors. Most rats go to the temple because it is there that they are fed daily.

How Would Be the Visit To The Temple Of Rats

It is estimated that today there are more than 600 descendants of the woman in the village and when you will visit Bikaner and the Temple of the Rats, you will truly surprised.

People live in the temple with the rats as if they were domestic animals. They feed them, they eat the same dishes, they caress them, and they lie down on the floor with them passing by and over them. They share their meals with them and they walk and eat the same pots as the people. At first it made you very confused but then you will tried to abstract and think that for those people, the rats are people in their family. India is this.

Indian worshipers bring sweets and milk to offer to rats at the Temple of the Rats. They say that if the rats get on our feet that are good luck! But the feet have to go barefoot. Left the shoes outside the Temple of the Rats but you can take stockings.

Tips For Visiting The Temple Of The Rats

• Take a rickshaw in Bikaner
• Take substitute stockings to enter the temple
• Eat the Prasad of the Temple as it is the blessing
• Stay in Bikaner

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