Karni Mata Rat Temple India

Any place with a guy in a turban carrying a sword has got to be cool. And this place is. The Karni Mata Temple, otherwise known as the rat temple in Deshnoke, Rajasthan, India. These aren’t your average run of the mill rats. though. They’re sacred!

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Why? Well Karni Mata was a female Hindu sage that according to legend lived for 151 years. When her stepson or clansman’s son,Laxman drowned in a pond she made a deal with the god Yama to bring him back to life. He refused at first but then changed his mind allowing Laxman and all of Karni Mata’s male children to be reincarnated as rats.

There are around 20,000 resident rats otherwise known as kabbas. Of the 20,000, four or so are believed to be white. Manifestations of Karni Mata herself and her sons. If you see one it’s said to bring good luck. Worshippers bring prasad, special food offerings in order to coax the white ones out.

It’s also said that if a rat touches your foot it too will bring good luck. So I tried. Right foot, no luck. Then left foot, still no luck. Must have been an off day, or something else.

With all these rats you’d think disease would’ve broken out at some point. Actually, never in the over hundred year history of this temple. Another miracle of India.
For breezy-size.flywheelsites.com this is John Saboe from the Karni Mata Rat Temple in Deshnoke, India.