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'''Karni Mata''' ({{lang-hi|करणी माता |
'''Karni Mata''' ({{lang-hi|करणी माता}}) ({{Birth date|1387|10|2}} – {{Death date|1538|3|23}})<ref name="gahlot1982">{{cite book|last=Gahlot|first=Sukhvir Singh |title=Rajasthan directory & who's who|publisher=Hindi Sahitya Mandir |year=1982|pages=20|language=en}}</ref> was a female [[Hindu]] sage born in the [[Charan]] caste and is worshipped as the incarnation of the goddess [[Durga]] by her followers.<ref name="gahlot1982">{{cite book|last=Gahlot|first=Sukhvir Singh|title=Rajasthan Directory & Who's who|publisher=Hindi Sahitya Mandir|year=1982|pages=244|language=en}}</ref> She is an official deity of the royal family of [[Jodhpur]] and [[Bikaner]]. During her life-time, she laid the foundation stone of two of the important forts in [[Rajputana]]. She lived an ascetic life, and few of the temples were dedicated to her in her lifetime. The temple dedicated to her during her life-time does not contain an image or idol of her instead they contain foot-print to symbolize her visit to that place. The most famous of all of her temples is the temple of [[Deshnoke]], which was created following her mysterious disappearance from her home. The temple is famous for its [[Black Rat|rats]], which are treated as sacred and given protection in the temple.This temple is near to Bikaner and Nokha. Its temple is famous for rats in the world.The second name of Karni mata is (Nari bai). |
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Revision as of 11:50, 4 June 2010
27°47′26″N 73°20′27″E / 27.79056°N 73.34083°E
| Karni Mata | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Hinduism |
| Location | |
| Location | Deshnoke, Rajasthan |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Mughal |
Karni Mata (Template:Lang-hi) (October 2, 1387 – March 23, 1538)[1] was a female Hindu sage born in the Charan caste and is worshipped as the incarnation of the goddess Durga by her followers.[1] She is an official deity of the royal family of Jodhpur and Bikaner. During her life-time, she laid the foundation stone of two of the important forts in Rajputana. She lived an ascetic life, and few of the temples were dedicated to her in her lifetime. The temple dedicated to her during her life-time does not contain an image or idol of her instead they contain foot-print to symbolize her visit to that place. The most famous of all of her temples is the temple of Deshnoke, which was created following her mysterious disappearance from her home. The temple is famous for its rats, which are treated as sacred and given protection in the temple.This temple is near to Bikaner and Nokha. Its temple is famous for rats in the world.The second name of Karni mata is (Nari bai).
Karni Mata temple, Deshnoke
The Karni Mata temple at Deshnoke, 30 km from Bikaner, in its present form was completed in the early 20th century in the late Mughal style by Maharaja Ganga Singh of Bikaner. The temple was further enhanced by Kundanlal Verma of Hyderabad-based Karni Jewellers in 1999. The huge silver gates to the temple, and the marble carvings were also donated by him.
Throughout the year pilgrims from around India come to pay religious tribute to Karni Mata at the Deshnoke temple. Outside Rajasthan she is respected and loved in areas like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Haryana. During Navratri thousands come to the temple on foot. If one of the rats is killed, it must be replaced with one made of solid gold. Sighting a white rat amidst hordes of black rats is considered specially auspicious. [2]
The legend
According to a local legend, Karni Mata, the 14th century mystic and an incarnation of Hindu goddess Durga, implored, Yama, the god of death to restore to life, the son of a storyteller, and upon his refusal she incarnated the dead son, and all of the storytellers as a rat, under her protection. [2]
Biography
Template:Expert-subject-multiple
 | This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. (December 2008) |
Karni Mata was born on October 2, 1387 in the village of Suwap in the Jodhpur district of Rajasthan. The seventh daughter of Mehoji Charan and his wife Deval Devi, her original name was Ridhubai. According to legend, she earned the honorific name Karni at age six by miraculously curing her aunt. Mata—a term meaning "mother"— was commonly added to the names of those worshipped as mother goddesses. She married Dipoji Charan of the village of Sathika around AD 1415 but did not live a conventional "married life."
Later on she arranged the marriage of her husband with her younger sister Gulab. She lived in her in-laws' village for about two years before leaving with her followers and a herd of cattle to live a nomadic life, camping at sunset. One such a camp was made at village Jangloo, but a servant of Rao Kanha who was ruler of the place denied them access to water for people and cows. On this Karni Mata declared her follower Rao Ridmal of Chandasar as new ruler of the village. And moved on to the further journey. When she reached near Deshnok, Rao Kanha himself came to oppose her camping but he died. Karni mata stopped further wandering and started living there. Her husband Depoji died in AD 1454. Rats became sacred in her temple when Karni Mata's stepson Laxman drowned in a tank he was attempting to drink from.
Karni mata implored Yama, the god of Death; though he at first refused, Yama eventually relented, permitting Laxman and all of Karnimata's male children to be reincarnated as rats.[3] In AD 1453 she gave her blessing to Rao Jodha of Jodhpur in conquering Ajmer, Merta and Mandor. In 1457 she went to Jodhpur at Rao Jodha's request to lay the cornerstone of the fort at Jodhpur.
Her first temple was constructed in village Mathaniya during her life-time by her follower Amra Charan. In AD 1472, she arranged the marriage of Rao Bika (the fifth son of Rao Jodha) and Rang Kunwar (daughter of Rao Shekha of Pungal) to turn the enimity of the Rathor and Bhatian families into friendship. In 1485 she laid the foundation stone of the fort of Bikaner at the request of Rao Bika. In 1538, Karniji went to visit Maharaja of Jaisalmer. She was travelling back to Deshnok with her stepson Poonjar and few other followers on 21 March AD 1538. They were near Gadiyala and Girirajsar of Kolayat district in Bikaner district where she asked the caravan to stop for water. She disappeared there at the age of 151 years.
References
- ^ a b Gahlot, Sukhvir Singh (1982). Rajasthan directory & who's who. Hindi Sahitya Mandir. p. 20. Cite error: The named reference "gahlot1982" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b Deshnok - Kani Mata Temple India, by Joe Bindloss, Sarina Singh, James Bainbridge, Lindsay Brown, Mark Elliott, Stuart Butler. Published by Lonely Planet, 2007. ISBN 1741043085. Page 257.
- ^ Langton, Jerry (2007). Rat: How the World's Most Notorious Rodent Clawed Its Way to the Top. Macmillan. pp. 125–128. ISBN 0312363842.
External links
- Karni Explanation of Karni (Karniji)
- Read Details about Karni Mata Temple
- National Geographic News: Rats Rule at Indian Temple
- Deshnok Temple A three-minute video news report on Karni Mata, a/k/a the "Bagwati Karniji" temple in Deshnoke, Rajasthan. Accessed August 10, 2007.