>
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/06/0628_040628_tvrats.html
>
> Which sez:
> Rats Rule at Indian Temple
> Sharon Guynup and Nicolas Ruggia
> National Geographic Channel
>
> June 29, 2004
> The floors are a living tangle of undulating fur. Small, brown blurs
> scurry across marble floors. Thousands of rats dine with people and
> scamper
> over their feet.
>
> It may sound like a nightmare from the New York City subway to some,
> but in India's small northwestern city of Deshnoke, this is a place of
> worship: Rajastan's famous Karni Mata Temple.
>
> This ornate, isolated Hindu temple was constructed by Maharaja Ganga
> Singh in the early 1900s as a tribute to the rat goddess, Karni Mata.
> Intricate marble panels line the entrance and the floors, and silver and
> gold decorations are found throughout.
>
> But by far the most intriguing aspect of the interior is the
> 20,000-odd rats that call this temple home. These holy animals are called
> kabbas, and many people travel great distances to pay their respects.
>
> The legend goes that Karni Mata, a mystic matriarch from the 14th
> century, was an incarnation of Durga, the goddess of power and victory. At
> some point during her life, the child of one of her clansmen died. She
> attempted to bring the child back to life, only to be told by Yama, the
> god
> of death, that he had already been reincarnated.
>
> Karni Mata cut a deal with Yama: From that point forward, all of her
> tribespeople would be reborn as rats until they could be born back into
> the
> clan.
>
> In Hinduism, death marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of
> a
> new one on the path to a soul's eventual oneness with the universe. This
> cycle of transmigration is known as samsara and is precisely why Karni
> Mata's rats are treated like royalty.
>
> Gautam Ghosh, professor of anthropology and Asian studies at the
> University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, noted how rare this
> rat-worshipping temple is. "In India, as in the West, rats aren't treated
> with particular veneration."
>
> In Hinduism, many deities take animals forms. "The main theological
> point is that there's no dividing line between what forms gods or
> goddesses
> can use," said Rachel Fell McDermott, professor of Asian and Middle
> Eastern
> cultures at Barnard College in New York City. "There's nothing to say they
> can't take form as a fish, a bird, or even a rat."
>
> Ghosh noted that this temple is linked to the royal family who ruled
> Bikaner, a nearby city. When a Hindu royal family is seeking greater
> power,
> they look to the local cults for a patron god-or, according to
> London-based
> art historian George Michell, usually a goddess-to help them attain that
> power.
>
> The male gods are not as powerful for direct involvement in people's
> lives, he explained, so cults surrounding local goddesses are commonly
> used
> to help sway things in their favor. "Kings who want to be powerful in
> India
> must be protected by goddesses," Michell said. This is how the Karni Mata
> Temple was established.
>
>
>
>
