Karni Mata Temple (Rat Temple) Bikaner

So we started our 12-13 hour journey to Bikaner at 7am, stopping there for just one night. A visit to Bikaner would not be complete without a visit to the Karni Mata Temple, 'The Rat Temple', which is a 45 minute drive from Bikaner. I was already feeling a bit nervous and squeamish and we hadn't even arrived in Bikaner yet. Our drive to Bikaner was …

So what would you say some of the biggest tourist draws are? Amazing architecture? Beautiful landscapes, Majestic wildlife? Well in Bikaner its none of those things. Its rats, plain and simple rats! Bikaner (or rather the nearby town of Deshnok) is home to the Karni Mata Temple. A holy site that is literally crawling with the rodents. Rather than …

... avoid morsels getting caught in their immaculately groomed facial hair! Less impressive, though certainly bizarre, was the Karni Mata temple, whose devotees believe the hordes of resident rats are reincarnations to be nurtured... Barefoot is de rigeur ...

... last stop in Rajasthan was Bikaner, a place we had been excited about going to long before we arrived in India. The reason was the Karni Mata Temple, a.k.a. the Rat Temple. The temple is famous for its unusual residents - thousands of rats. The rats ...

... lies one of India's weidest temples. In the village of Deshnok, a 30-minute bus ride south of town, in the Karni Mata temple people worship rats. The whole place is teeming with hundreds of rats, who are beleived to be the reincarnations of souls. So ...

... Jain temples we want to see. It is at this point that we decide not to visit the nearby Karni Mata temple (we had debated this since arriving in India) where HOLY RATS are worshipped the main deciding point is when we discover that to enter the temple ...

... famous Hindu temple, Karni Mata. KARNI MATA: En Route from Bikaner to Jodhpur We stopped in Deshnok to visit the Karni Mata temple. It's famed for the holy rats that are worshipped there, and is an important pilgrimage site for devout Hindus. ...

... to our hotel. Again, no hot water. In the morning, we tried to forget about yesterday. We set out to visit Karni Mata Temple, which has hundreds of rats running around the whole place. Peter went inside, but I decided to sit this one out since I do ...

... we were dropped off at a rail station for our trip to Jodhpur, but not before it was recommended we visit the Karni Mata Temple, a temple where, according to legend, dead storytellers were reincarnated as rats. Rats are worshipped here, and fed milk and ...

... courtyards, beautifully decorated rooms and views across the Thar Desert. The main reason we came to Bikaner was to visit the Karni Mata Temple, probably India's strangest attraction.  As legend would have it, in the 14th century Karni Mata ...

... can see a temple on some hills, birds, and elephant and my name, all on my fingernail! I visited the most unusual temple so far, Karni Mata Temple, also know as The Temple of the Rats. Story has it that Karni Mata, an incarnation of Durga, asked the ...

... next day. Getting those tickets was a little easier. We changed hotels and decided to finally see the Karni Mata temple - the whole reason we came to Bikaner. Of course, indiaphiles know that Karni Mata isn't actually in Bikaner, but in Deshnok, ...