Deshnok Karni Mata Temple at Bikaner
Deshnok’s Karni Mata Temple (30km): The famous 600 year old temple on the Jodhpur road dedicated to Karni Mata, an incarnation of Goddess Durga. The temple has huge intricately carved silver gates, which were donated by Maharaja Ganga Singh The most interesting thing about the temple are the rats who scamper freely within the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. They are regarded as sacred and are fed by priests and devotees owing to the belief that they will be reincarnated as holy men.
It is believed that the Maharaja of Bikaner had a vision in which the goddess asked him to protect the rats and for this reason, there is bronze wiremesh across the temple. Bikaner’s ruler Ganga Singh had the whole temple built in marble. The domes of the temple are made of silver and gold. It is also said that when Karni churned curds using wooden implements the dead, dry wood sprang to life again and became growing vegetation. KarniMata.com says that Karni stuck a dry stick in the ground about a mile west of Deshnok and sprinkled curd on it and it sprang to life and grew into a tall evergreen tree, under which she used to sit; this tree still lives, and at its foot is a statue of Karni and a small shrine called Shri Nehriji, a photo’ of which can be seen at KarniMata.com. Her cult is associated with a benign “green” attitude to nature, and acording to RealBikaner.com Deshnok has its own oran, an island of vegetation set aside by the Bishnoi people of Rajasthan (described as “the first environmentalists”) for worship under community protection and management. No trees may be cut in the oran.