Karni mata temple is a rat kingdom.

Today I invite you to make an effort on yourself (I don’t know about you, but I certainly did) and visit a real temple of rats. Shri Karni Mata Temple They call it “the temple of 20,000 rats.” I’m not sure that a census of the rat population was conducted here, however, there are a lot of rats here and they feel very at home here.

We traveled to Deshnok from Jodhpur by car for about 6 hours. The road was long, but the holy rats were worth it. The name of the temple is Shri Karni Mata and is located in the village of Deshnok, 30 km away. from Bikaner.

As in almost all Hindu temples, shoes must be removed and placed in special storage areas. Tourists politely walk around in socks, but locals don’t care about socks - they walk completely calmly through rat poop. Given the desire of Indians to do a lot of things “for happiness,” I would not be surprised that getting kicked in a kaka is a positive sign from above.


Visitors are monitored by cameras guarded by elephants. The cameras look like real ones.


Entrance approx. 50 rupees + money for shooting

Karni Mata- Hindu saint who lived for about 150 years. It is believed that Karni Mata was an incarnation of the goddess Durga.


The sign at the entrance generally declares it the eighth wonder of the world, read it.


One day, while trying to drink from a pond, her stepson Lakhan drowned. According to legend, Karni asked the god Yama to resurrect the boy, but he refused. Then the saint wished that all the relatives of her caste would never go to Yama, huh. after death, their souls will move into the bodies of rats. And in the next birth they should be born as humans. I wonder if they are born?


Karni Mata lived in this place for the rest of her long life. This is where the temple named after her is located.


The territory of the rat temple is quite large, there is a main altar and several minor ones.


Even a camel fits!


The floors here are marble.

Only Hindus are allowed to the main altar. The altar is a separate small room with a minister at the entrance. The servant keeps order, collects gifts and does not let us, curious tourists, in.


Altar

And there are rats hanging on all the fences here.

We were lucky enough to see a “lucky” white rat. In fact, she turned out to be not white, but just like this redhead. Counts great luck- see a white rat.


Everyone immediately took out their cell phones and started filming. According to ancient legends, the local rajah, coming to worship the rodents, never set off until a “white” rat honored him with a visit.

The Shri Harni Mata temple is full of rats running around and swarming. Rats drink milk. They gnaw on nuts and sweets brought to them by visitors. Rats are cruel creatures: there are a lot of rats without legs, with bitten off faces and tails. One rat ran up to me and stubbornly began to chew thumb right leg. Naturally, I screamed. Not to say that I am afraid of rats, but entering this temple was a kind of overcoming for me. Three seconds away from screaming.


By the way, in India, Valli, my crazy armless bunny, found friends - two rats, which my mother took with her to India to visit the Shri Karni Mata temple. The photograph is compromising evidence. They are on vacation in Udaipur. Valli is in a daze here.

And we will return to the temple. Surely you thought, what will happen if I accidentally / intentionally / kill? crush the rat? Then the culprit will have to compensate the temple with exactly the same little rat, but only made of silver or gold. We walked carefully, because ATMs are tight in Deshnok, and there isn’t a store with silver rats on every corner.

We arrived in the afternoon and there were many visitors in the temple. However, a large number of people with children told us that the place is very, very popular among the local people.


One cutie with a bunch of kids asked me to take a photo of her with our Masha. By the way, before the trip we somehow immediately decided that Masha could act as our business nest egg on the trip if we spent money on stones and fabrics. Blondes cause incredible excitement in India. The country is poor, and representatives of the highest castes have the opportunity to travel outside its borders, which is not available to the poorest. A person with pale skin causes a stir. And, especially, a blonde with innocent blue eyes and white skin. Wow

We visited the Sri Karni Mata temple in winter - in mid-January, so we did not breathe in all the delights that would have awaited us in summer.

Now I literally understand the expression “Like mice on grain”

Musicians play on the territory of the rat temple. So how do they play? They played once, then they frolicked for about 10 minutes, then back to their instruments. Apparently, they caught an Indian little one.


As the musicians laugh and put their instruments aside, the temple is filled with the sounds of bells.


Everything on top is covered with a net to keep away the flying parasites - pigeons, which, however, does not prevent them from getting inside along with the tourists.


Rats also sleep peacefully on the mesh.


In fact, they sleep everywhere =)))


In the temple itself there is constant twilight, the rats are mobile creatures, and also shabby and unkempt. That’s why we didn’t get any studio mimimi photographs. Don't cry, mouse

Better go to the basin


In front of the temple there are a lot of merchants - you can buy sweets, flowers, cereals for rats from them.


Here, as throughout India, right on the streets people are weaving, beating, stringing, stirring, boiling, molding... One gets the impression of everyone being busy.

A! Sock theme! In India you can’t let your guard down, no way. The Hindus seem to be waiting for you to relax. You can buy disposable socks from the temple. It is clear that socks at temples are a hot commodity among tourists. So, as soon as you leave the temple and throw your socks in the trash, a Hindu either sneaks up behind you, or he is already sitting in this slop and catching the treasured rags. To then sell them to some other European plankton.


At the entrance, at the gate, you are greeted by two imposingly lounging marble lions, with faces from Disney’s “The Lion King”; theoretically, they should protect the temple from cats.


In India, in general, relations between people and animals are the most unusual shapes, later I will tell you about pickpocket monkeys. But the question still haunts me - how do peace-loving Indians protect elephants, monkeys and snakes; Indians glorifying mother goddesses; Indians who elevate aestheticism to the status of religiosity, Indians who created the Kama Sutra... could so mercilessly burn little girls, young mothers and mature women. This is me grumbling about the “sati” ritual.
Well, so as not to end sadly, I will smile at you


And the cow will dance on the temple stage.


Photos are mine and wonderful

One of the most unusual places in the world is located in the town of Deshnok, 30 kilometers from Bikaner in the state of Rajasthan. This world famous rat temple Sri Karni Mata. Judging by the sign at the entrance, it is generally the eighth wonder of the world.

By the way, rats are included in . It is not recommended for nervous people to watch...

Photos by Dmitry Shatrov

My group and I passed this place and curiosity overpowered us. Frankly, I have a calm attitude towards all kinds of sharpening rodents, but only as long as their number does not go beyond reasonable limits. Here it comes out. Rat Temple of Karni Mata. It is also called the “Temple of 20,000 Rats.” It is unlikely that the Indians conducted a rat census, and certainly did not control the birth rate. That is, there could be twenty thousand, thirty, or fifty rats here. Apparently, for local residents, 20,000 is guaranteed to be “a lot.” So be it. There really are a LOT of them here.

Welcome to the kingdom of unsanitary conditions!

This temple is more than six centuries old. Without delving too much into local mythology, the rats in the temple are the souls of the dead, temporary incarnations that will be reborn back into people in the next incarnation. Like most Hindu temples, shoes are not allowed here. A relaxation has been introduced for tourists: they are allowed to wear socks, which is very humane, given the dense layer of rat waste products on the marble floors of the temple.

To put it simply, the floor is dirtied beyond belief. The Hindus themselves do not care about such trifles; they walk around all this joy barefoot. As our guide said: “In India they never ask why.” In India they simply believe". And this is very accurate, because how else can you explain the crowds of pilgrims flocking from everywhere, dragging children here and even eating with rats from the same bowl - this is considered a special chic.

They are everywhere here. Underfoot, in wall cracks, and even on fence grates:

It was quite cold during our visit, about 15 degrees. I can only imagine what the level of infection is here in the summer, when the thermometer shows both forty and fifty... By the way, anyone who accidentally strangles, crushes or otherwise kills a rat will have to compensate the temple with exactly the same weight, but only in silver. No, the servants there won’t tie you up and poke you in the face with a stiff corpse. Just a devout Hindu himself will bring the statuette to the temple. Because.

This is truly a rat's paradise. Rats not only drink milk, but also bathe in it:

... and in that order there is a small gap

The suspect rat is unhappy about being removed:

A random pigeon is waiting for some rations to break off for him:

Festively dressed locals come here themselves and drag their children:

Only Hindus are allowed to the altar itself. Actually, the altar is a nook two by two meters. A servant stands at the entrance, collects bribes and exercises face control, cutting off infidels:

It is believed that seeing an albino rat is good luck. I didn’t come across an albino, but I did come across this red-haired beast. These rats hang out with such inspired faces that you immediately feel out of place:

Grandma for grandfather...

And it can be sad in heaven...

If you catch a mouse, take it slowly!

This rat was sleeping on a water pipe, rocking rhythmically in time with its snoring breathing, balancing with difficulty on the smooth surface. I kept waiting for it to fall into the bowl of milk below, but it never happened:

Already on the way out, I took off my socks and was about to throw them in the trash, when the attendant intercepted me and asked me to give them to him. Nothing other than luck.

(Photo by Dick Verton):

Sri Karni Mata Rat Temple in India. Don’t forget to read the article “”, where these animals are in honorable tenth place. (Photo by Jules1405):

Russians who visited the temple, located in the small Indian city of Denshok, are almost unanimous: “A real kingdom of unsanitary conditions!”

There is nothing to be surprised: the true owners of the sanctuary are thousands rats. But what is death for a Russian is great for an Indian. Local residents come here with whole families, even with infants, and it is considered the height of pleasure for them to eat... from the same bowl with the inhabitants of the temple.

20 thousand rodents

You are not allowed to enter the temple with shoes, but Indians are not squeamish and calmly walk around the premises barefoot. Europeans do not risk repeating this “feat”: after all, the temple servants, apparently, consider cleaning the temple a burdensome task, and if you find yourself in the sanctuary without shoes, you risk stepping on rat “peas”.

Of course, sometimes cleaners take up brooms, but extremely rarely and reluctantly. However, Indians are quite humane: they allow Europeans to take off their shoes and leave their socks on. For an additional fee, you can buy the blue shoe covers we are so familiar with.

But how did it happen that what we consider disgusting rodents suddenly fell into the category of sacred animals?
According to legend, many years ago in Denshok (Rajasthan) there lived a person named Karni Mata. It wasn't ordinary girl, but an incarnation of the goddess Durga.

Indian goddesses nothing human is alien - Karni Mata had Foster-son. One day, while swimming in the lake, the baby drowned. The unfortunate mother asked the god of death Yama to resurrect her son, but he refused. And for this, the vengeful Karni Mata took away his opportunity to obtain the souls of her future descendants. Now, after death, they did not go to the Pit, but moved into the bodies of rats.

Thus, according to local beliefs, rodents in Denshok are not just animals, but direct descendants of the goddess. Considering that Karni Mata lived for 151 years (then she disappeared without a trace) and gave birth regularly, Yama lost enough large quantity shower. According to estimates of local priests - about 20 thousand. That is why the Karni Mata temple is called the sanctuary of 20 thousand rats.

This number is not growing, because after death rodents are supposedly born again, but in human form. Although, of course, in reality there may be several times fewer rats in the temple, which is unlikely, or much more.

The floor in their temple is covered with a layer of droppings - it literally squishes underfoot. However, Indians (and not beggars, but quite wealthy people who come here from large cities), including children, as mentioned above, walk around all this “good” barefoot. This is explained by the local mentality. Indians simply believe that nothing bad can happen to them in a sacred place.

Good sign

The Karni Mata Temple is now more than six centuries old, but in the 19th century it was on the verge of destruction. The squeamish British, who ruled India, closed it. The rats were in danger of starvation, but they were saved by several monks who collected alms in Denshok and surrounding villages and fed the sacred rodents. However, the poor peasants, of course, could not maintain the temple in good condition on their own, so its building gradually collapsed.

Only in the second half of the 20th century did the Indian government begin to allocate money for the restoration of ancient monuments. The Karni Mata Temple was then partially restored and slightly rebuilt. A majestic stone building, decorated with stucco, images of gods, rats, big amount metal decorations - this is what the sanctuary looks like now.

But, in fairness, we note: the temple is not considered a masterpiece of architecture. Its uniqueness lies precisely in its tens of thousands of tailed inhabitants.

Before entering the temple, visitors are forced to leave not only their shoes, but also any leather goods: belts, handbags, accessories. Leather is a favorite delicacy for the little owners of the temple, and the attendants cannot vouch for the safety of your handbag if it attracts their attention.

However, rodents sometimes get outside the temple and can devour the pilgrim’s shoes left at the entrance. So that the victim does not get too upset, he is consoled: this is a good sign, promising good luck and help in business from Karni Mata.

Winners of the Plague

The top of the courtyard of the temple is covered with a fine mesh. She protects the sacred rats from the invasion of pigeons, who are not averse to sharing a meal with them. The birds, however, still penetrate the sanctuary, but do not become impudent, quietly waiting for their turn at the bowls. Pilgrims either buy food for rodents from temple servants or bring them with them. Large iron bowls are placed throughout the area.

Tourists pour milk into them, lay out porridge (most often rice), and crumble bread. But most of all, rats love sweets.

Among the pilgrims there are fanatics who, as already mentioned, eat from the same bowl with rats, believing that grace descends on them. Surprisingly, no cases of acute intestinal infections have been recorded among such “gourmets”.

Moreover, ministers claim that when a plague epidemic broke out in Denshok in 2006, local residents came to the temple and took turns sharing a meal with the rats. AND fatal disease retreated! Of course, this is more like a fairy tale for gullible tourists, but India is truly a land of wonders. Be that as it may, after this highly publicized incident, the number of pilgrims to the Karni Mata temple increased significantly.

The killer pays in silver

Among thousands of gray brothers, albinos are occasionally encountered. The Indians claim that these are “rat kings.” Meeting them promises good luck. However, white rats crawl into the light of day extremely rarely. Several specimens live in a small room in the very center of the temple.

Unfortunately, Indians jealously guard this holy of holies. It is impossible for a European to enter there even for money. A stern uniformed servant allows only local residents inside. Probably so that tourists don’t take away some of their luck.

Rats are everywhere here. They eat the offerings in unison, rush around the premises of the temple, crawl to wherever they can get, fight, copulate... And, of course, actively get under your feet. But woe to anyone who accidentally crushes a rodent! The curse of the goddess will fall on the wicked.

Local residents know that they can ward off trouble by donating to the temple a silver figurine of a rat, equal in weight to the dead animal. Tourists, of course, ignore this custom. However, there are about ten silver figurines kept in the sanctuary. This means one thing: superstitious Indians, who accidentally stepped on rodents, seriously feared the wrath of Karni Mata.

However, with all the fear of the goddess, the sanctuary for local residents is not only a place of worship, but also a kind of club of interests. And of course, a source of income. Since the temple is constantly visited by foreign tourists (the poorest of them is a rich man by the standards of the poor Denshok), the townspeople are trying to make money from them.

When there are no tourists or pilgrims from large cities, Denshok residents communicate, play Board games, smoke hashish. However, as soon as a tourist bus appears, bones and pipes fly to the side: Indians grab trays of souvenirs or begin to play instruments that sound eerie to European and even American ears. musical instruments.

Some simply beg, showing visitors their terrible sores. Even if a craftsman, musician or beggar manages to earn a couple of dollars a day, he has already provided food for his family. However, any of them will definitely share the spoils with the rodents that brought him luck, and will buy the rats a bowl of milk and rice.

This is the unusual fetish chosen by the residents of Denshok. In India there are several temples of monkeys and snakes, a village of cobras. But the Rat Temple is one of a kind.

By the way, a piece of advice: if you decide to visit the Karni Mata Temple, do not think of going on a trip in the summer, when the thermometer here is off the charts. Indians tolerate unsanitary conditions without problems, but an unprepared Russian can easily lose consciousness from the rat miasma. And although the temple servants always have ammonia on hand (sometimes women faint when a rat runs over their bare legs, for example), this is still not very pleasant.

Andrey LESHUKONSKY

Almost all people, with the exception of a few people, are accustomed to treating rats not only with disgust, but also with panic. Just imagine for a second that you are now walking through a dark room full of rats. You must walk through this room and not pay attention to the fact that they squeak, knock hundreds of thousands of marigolds on the ground and walk very close to you. Everywhere and everywhere it seems as if there is one big solid carpet of living creatures - rats! It’s scary to even imagine this, let alone find yourself in such a room in reality...

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But such a place actually exists! Here they can not only be respected and revered, but also given the opportunity to live in a temple built in their honor. The number of rat residents in this temple is about two tens of thousands.

The famous rat temple of Sri Karni Mata is located in India in the city of Deshnok, approximately 30 km from Bikaner in the state of Rajasthan. It was built in honor of a saint named Karni Mata, who was revered by everyone in this country throughout the 15th century, and probably still is. Legend has it that this woman's adopted son drowned in the lake, and she turned to the god Yam to resurrect him. After hearing the refusal, the woman told him that when dying, the soul of any person in her family would not go to him, but would continue to live in the bodies of rats. After the reincarnation process, they will be human again. (But there is another legend that says that the god Yamu nevertheless decided to resurrect the son of Karni Mata, but did it in the body of a rat. After Karni Mata mysteriously disappeared, people decided to build this Temple in her honor, which they called the Sri Temple Karni Mata, or Temple of the Rat.

Rules of behavior in the temple

This temple, like many others in India, is considered sacred, so people who enter it must take off their shoes and walk around it barefoot or in socks. If a rat runs along the leg of a visitor to this temple or simply touches it, it is considered good sign, which promises good luck and blesses. A small amount of The white rats or albinos that live here are believed to be the reincarnation of Karni Mata and her family members. Meeting such a rat is a huge success!

All temple visitors must special attention look under your feet and where they step. If you are careless, you can step on a rat and take its life. In this case, you need to pay a hefty fine, or buy a figurine made of gold or silver the size of a killed rat. Under no circumstances are you allowed to throw rats or drive them away from you with a movement of the hand or shouting - this is considered bad manners here.

About the temple

The entire temple area has large area, there are a huge number of bowls placed everywhere, in which there is always fresh milk and many other delicacies and goodies. Many special bars and stretched nets were installed in the yard to protect from cows and birds that roam everywhere here.

Hindus consider food eaten by rodents to be sacred! In the temple you can see such a terrifying picture when a person can finish eating a rat, and he eats it all with extraordinary appetite. Thus, people seem to touch the shrine and eat holy blessed food. Many parishioners try to finish the milk from the bowl that the rat just drank from. Some come here to have lunch, conclude a business deal, and take a break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

The temple also has a rat altar, which was specially built for them more than 600 years ago. It stands in the courtyard, of which, by the way, there are two in the temple. Near the altar at any time you can see very long lines of people wanting to pray and asking for grace. There are even icons on sale that depict rats.

The floor in this temple is covered with rat droppings, and it practically squishes under your feet. But, despite all this, the people of India come here, both rich and poor, with children or themselves, and walk on the floor barefoot, even without socks. They believe that the sacred place will simply prevent anything bad from happening to their health or the health of their relatives.

The Sri Karni Mata Temple was once almost closed forever by the British when India was under their rule in the 19th century. In these Hard times The rats could have died of starvation, but the monks prevented this from happening. They organized an alms collection in the city of Denshok and its environs, and thus fed the rats until the power in the country returned to its former self. In those days, the temple was very worn out and became shabby, because the poor population could not feed the sacred rats or repair their housing. Only in the middle of the 20th century did the country's government begin to allocate money to maintain it in normal conditions. In addition, a lot of funds were allocated for restoration, stucco decorations, images of gods, rats and other metal products.

Near the temple they sell water and other drinks, as well as souvenirs in the spirit of rats.

A few funny tidbits

Near the gate at the entrance to the temple, two marble statues of lions were installed. This was done so that they would protect the residents of Sri Karni Mata from attacks by cats. But what's most interesting is that the faces of these lions are exactly the same as when entering Disneyland - that is, with mouse faces!

All the walls that exist here, made of marble and stones, have small holes made so that rats can move freely from one room to another, and not run around a long distance.

How to get there

One of the simplest and convenient ways Taking a trip to the Rat Temple counts as a train ride. You need to get to the city of Delhi, then to Bikaner, this is usually possible by night express. Departure time is at 22:00. Trains at night are comfortable, because in the evening there is no such crazy heat, not so many people travel, and the train time somehow passes faster. The ticket price will cost approximately 300 rupees (200 rubles).

One of the disadvantages of Indian railway- This slow speed trains, but nothing can be done about it. The train travels from Delhi to Bikaner for about 12 hours and arrives at 10:00 am. The temple, which is located in the town of Deshnok, can be reached by rickshaw or bus. There are also taxi services here, whose drivers can take tourists to the temple and back to the station for 500 rupees.

Shri Karni Mata Temple in India is amazing place. Although for most tourists it is not sacred as for local residents, a trip here is still a unique opportunity to look at something unique and incredible, something that cannot be seen anywhere else in the world!