Karni Mata Temple

Special Features

Foundation Year: 15th Century

Architecture: Mughal style

Other Speciality: The temple is famous for the approximately 25,000 black rats that live, and are revered, in the temple.

Sthala Puran

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.The legend of Karni Mata temple dates back to the 1300s, when in the Charan clan, Karni Mata was born. The mystical woman was known to be the reincarnation of fierce, powerful and ever-victorious Goddess Durga. Karni Mata made a deal with the God of Death, Yama to reincarnate her drowned son. When Yama refused to help her, she promised her clan that the Charan Caste would live perpetually as rats and shall be reincarnated as humans again upon being dead rats in the future.Paying respect to the rats in the temples is considered a potentially good deed for the Hindus. Doing so brings good fortune, health and prosperity into their lives. Pilgrims from all across the world visit the temple in Bikaner built by Maharaja Ganga Singh in the 1900s.

Architecture

The temple architecture hugely resembles the Mughal architectural style and feel due to its silver, magnificent doors, and mesmerizing marble front. Majestic and breathtaking, the temple is a splendid historical marvel.Once you move closer to the temple premises you will rightly get to notice the shimmering internal sanctum, surrounded by its intricate crisscross patterns across the floor. Moving further, the inner sanctum houses Karni Mata in her full glory, surrounded by rats scrabbling and scampering the floor and ledges, back and forth in their sacred home.

Prayers and Benefits

Festivals

Social Activities