While travelling through the Thar Desert in the state of Rajasthan in Northern India, our group spent two days in a city called Bikaner. We were told by our tour leader that just outside the city was a temple called Deshnoke where rats were considered sacred, given food and milk, and protected from predators. I was curious, and so were two other guys out of our group of 13. We hired a driver to take us there. On the way I dozed off in the warm light of the late afternoon sun.
“Here is temple,” said our driver abruptly waking me 30 minutes later. “You go. I will wait here.”
We made our way towards the temple’s entrance. It’s outer appearance was like many of the ones we had already seen; ornate designs carved from stone, marble tiles and gold decorations. I noticed that everyone entering the building had removed their shoes. Oh, that’s right… I remembered. No wearing shoes in temples. We took ours off and handed them to the shoe keeper. I was a little concerned about a rabid rat biting a toe, but there was no turning back now.
Inside was one of the strangest sights I had ever witnessed. I was expecting rats, but I suppose not so many. I could see hundreds of furry bodies scurrying across the floor. What’s that I’m stepping on? I wondered. Oh right, rat shit.
We slowly and cautiously walked, making sure not to step on one of the inhabitants. Unfortunately, the poop was unavoidalbe. With every step our feet were covered with more and more of it. I watched as an elderly woman filled a bowl with milk for the rats to drink. Several of them quickly darted over and perched their filthy, greasy bodies on the edge and began feeding. As I stared in disgust I felt one run across my feet. I was nearing the boundary of my comfort zone. I could feel my stomach turn when I watched as a man kneel on the ground and press his lips against the feces coated floor.
We soon decided that we had seen enough. We tip-toed back to the exit and collected our shoes. I took a look at the bottom of my feet. They were horrific. I wiped as much as I could off on the street and then slipped my sandals back on. When we arrived back at the hotel, I spent a good 20 minutes scouring my feet with hot, soapy water and rubbing anti-bacterial lotion on them.
We asked our tour leader about the history of Deshnoke. He told us that this temple was a tribute to a female Hindu sage named Karni Mata. Karni Mata was an incarnation of the Hindu goddess, Durga. One day, a child from her tribe grew ill and died. When she attempted to bring the deceased child back to life, she was denied by Yama, the god of death. From that point forward, whenever one of her clanspeople died, Karni Mata reincarnated them as a rat, a creature outside of Yama’s control. The rats at Deshnoke are under Karni Mata’s protection until they can be reborn as human.
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