Karni Mata Temple
The Karni Mata Temple ( Hindi : करणी माता मंदिर ) is located in the small Indian town of Deshnok in Rajasthan , about 30 kilometers south of Bikaner , close to the Pakistani border. This Hindu temple is dedicated to Karni Mata , the appearance of the goddess Durga . Beyond the borders of India it is best known as a sacred rat temple . Thousands of rats live in the temple, and the visitors take care of them with food and drinks they have brought with them.
Karni Mata
Karni Mata is said to have lived in the 14th and 15th centuries and was venerated as a saint while he was still alive. She became the patron goddess of the Rajputs , especially the princely family of Bikaner . According to a legend, the dead son of a royal family was brought to her to bring him back to life. Thereupon, in a trance, she asked the god of the dead Yama to hand over the deceased child. However, Yama replied that he could not transfer the soul to her because the child had already been reborn. Thereupon Karni Mata swore that none of her people would ever again enter the realm of the dead of the god Yama and that the dead souls would be reborn as rats after their death. When the deceased souls had lived as rats, they should rise again as charans ( bards ). In the cultural history of the Rajputs, traveling singers have always been highly respected and revered.
The temple
The history of the temple goes back about 600 years. There are hundreds of stone-built rats at the entrance. The ornate silver entrance door and the artfully decorated silver and gold decorations as well as the renovation of the temple and extension were a donation from Maharajas Ganga Singh (1880–1943). Access to the Holy of Holies is only allowed to Hindus . Under the golden canopy is the statue of Karni Mata. Before that, the rats are served food and water in silver or bronze bowls.
The sacred rats
It is estimated that around 20,000 rats live in the temple. As is common in Hindu temples, visitors must take off their shoes before entering. Since the temple also attracts many tourists through the rats, who often have an inhibited or fearful attitude towards rats, they are allowed to keep their stockings on. Visitors are asked by the priests to move carefully around the temple. The rats are not shy and come very close to the visitors. If a rat runs over its feet, that means luck. For followers of Karni Mata it is a special honor to get in touch with the rare white rats. They linger for hours at the cracks in the wall with delicacies and try to attract one of these rare specimens. If a rat is fatally injured by mistake, the visitor is instructed to bury the dead animal outside the temple and to make a donation in the form of a silver or gold rat to the temple.
The Hindus distinguish the rats in the temple and outside the building. While the rats are considered sacred inside the temple, the rats outside are seen as pests. The rats are hunted and released far away. They are not killed. To protect the sacred rats from aerial predators, the open temple area is secured by a net at the top. The believers eat of the food and drink water or milk from the bowls from which the rats have previously eaten or drunk. Despite this strange procedure for tourists, there has not yet been an epidemic.
Others
- Helmut Rellergerd , better known under the pseudonym Jason Dark , was inspired by it in his novel series of the ghost hunter John Sinclair in the booklet John Sinclair: Im Rattentempel.
Web links
- Deshnok. The Indian temple where ship rats are revered. cj_whitehound.madasafish.com (website about rats)
- Florian Wizorek: Cloud seven for rodents - The rat temple 'Karni Mata' in Deshnok. www.xflo.net, February 2011 (travel report with photos)
Coordinates: 27 ° 47 ′ 26 ″ N , 73 ° 20 ′ 27 ″ E