IMAGINE that you are standing barefoot in a temple. Looking around, you see grain, sweets and pails of milk on the marble floor. Suddenly you feel a presence move over your foot. Glancing down, you see a brown ball of fur scampering away. When it reaches a large group of its furry friends the realisation hits you like a cold shower: they’re all – hundreds of them – rats. You can relax, safe in the knowledge that you’re nowhere near this temple. As for me, I went looking for the white rat.
You may think this is a nightmarish figment of my overactive imagination, but this is Karni Mata temple, in northern India.
Legend has it that Karni Mata, a 14th-century incarnation of the 10-armed Hindu goddess Durga, asked Yama, the god of death, to restore the life of a devotee’s child. Yama told her he had already been reincarnated. Karni Mata then cut a deal with Yama; from that point all of her tribe’s people would be reborn as rats before they could be born back into the clan. Apparently, 20,000 holy rats live here, and in the century of the temple’s existence they haven’t bitten anyone.
They’re not afraid of people, and will run across their feet (this is considered good luck). I also saw some run up people’s arms and obligingly sit on people’s heads until multiple photos had been taken. Indians revere them, bringing grain and sweets to feed them, petting them and treating them with affection.
I was a little more apprehensive about going inside until one ran across my foot. Then I just laughed and started to enjoy the surreal experience.
The white rats are believed to be the reincarnation of Karni Mata and her kin, and seeing one is considered especially lucky. I saw three, so I’m off to find out if India has a lottery – and, if so, where I can buy a ticket.
Karni Mata temple, Deshnok, India, www.karnimata.com
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