If you ever see a rat in your house, you become restless. You will apply all the tricks to get him out of your house because rats are considered to be the cause of many terrible diseases like Plague. But do you know that there is a temple of goddess in India where approximately 25,000 black rats live and the devotee who comes to the temple receives prasad (a sweet holy food) which has already been tasted by rats. Karni Mata Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Karni Mata at Deshnoke, 30 km from Bikaner, in Rajasthan, India. It is also known as the Temple of Rats. These holy rats are called kabbas. Surprisingly, even after having so many rats, there is no smell in the temple at all, no sickness has spread till date. And even a devotee has not got sick from eating the remaining offerings (a sweet holy food) of rats. Here are some white rats, which are considered to be auspicious.
According to the belief, Karni was born in 1387 in a Charan family. People considered her as the Hindu goddess Durga. She was the goddess of the royal family of Jodhpur and Bikaner. Her childhood name was Righubai. Karni mata was originally the wife of Dipoji Charan of the village of Sathika. Shortly after marriage, her mind got bored with worldly life. That's why, Karni arranged for her husband to marry her own younger sister Gulab so that he might have a proper married life. After that she put herself in the devotion of mother Durga. Due to public welfare and supernatural powers, local people began to worship Righubai in the name of Karani Mata. It is said that Karni Mata was alive for 151 years and died on March 23, 1538. After her death, devotees started worshiping her by establishing her idol which has been continuously being worship since then. Local tradition tells that Karni Mata's step son died while he fell in a well. On request of Karni Mata Yamaraja gave life to the dead son but in the form of rat. It is believed that descendants of Karni Mata get rebirth in the form of rats and find place in the temple.
It is said that Bikaner and Jodhpur were established with the blessing of Mata Karni. The followers of the Mata Karni are not only in Rajasthan but all over the country, who from time to time come here to visit this temple. The present temple of Karni Mata was built by Maharaja Ganga Singh of Bikaner principality in the beginning of the twentieth century. The magnificence of a temple made of marble can be seen here. If we talk about rats, then there are rats everywhere when entering the temple. The quantity of rats can be estimated from the fact that you have to go dragging your feet to reach the main statue inside the temple. Because if you lift your feet, the rat may be injured by falling under it, which is considered inauspicious. There are some white rats with about twenty thousand black rats in this temple. These rats are considered to be more holy. It is believed that if you see a white rat then your wish will be fulfilled.
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