The day began with the Rat Temple. It was about about 40 minutes out of Bikaner and they said if we had been here about 10 days ago people leave at sunset and fill the roads pilgriming to this temple which is one of the sacred Hindu Temples. Here the goddess Karni Mata is worshiped who apparently was a woman that lived near here in the 13th-15th century and was a woman that came and by touching the water made it clean, where there was no clean water in this area. She evolved into a goddess and because of this legend and other legends of Karni they dedicated this temple which was previously to Shiva to her. They believe that the rats that scurry around the temple are her reincarnated descendants. People come and worship and bring offerings of sweets and pay money for men to crack coconuts and collect the milk that is then offered to the rats. Wild belief and wild to enter a place with hundreds of rats that people are feeding. Most temples there is someone sweeping, here they are letting piles of seed and milk and sweets pile up to feed the rats. Rats are sacred here. There is a line of people next to the huge pile of coconuts that lead to the shrine of the goddess with the orange saffron dyes that is a sacred color and dye that all that come to worship inside the shrine are given a “dot” on their head by the priest. The priests and men that are working at the temple are descendants of this goddess.
There is the belief that if you see a white rat here that it is good luck. Well, we spotted the white rat under the cooking area where there were hundreds of rats. People were all looking underneath and were excited.
On our drive out and back the driving was nuts. People were coming head on - huge trucks and then the driver would swerve onto the dirt and then keep going. There were camels pulling carts all over the place. This area is desert and the main industry is making bricks- which the camels were hauling, and handicrafts. When we made it back to town we went to a handicraft shop where women made quilts and items from old saris. I loved everything in there actually and wished I had room for it all. I decided that I would get square pillow covers that are patchwork together and use them as placemats. It was fun to flip through the piles to find the ones I liked. As we were walking out there were two women that were piecing together one quilt covered in circles. I loved it but they were still working on it. When I got back to the train I decided I needed to have it. I asked the train to ask the shopkeeper to bring it to me if possible. The shop keeper brought quilts to our next stop but the one I loved wasn’t in the group. He said he was sorry but the people on the train right after us, who I had seen in the shop, had purchased it. I was so bummed. The others were awesome but not like that one with all the colors and circles. Oh, well. Not meant to be but still excited about my little squares which I purchase for only $5 a piece- which was basically his asking price. Felt that I shouldn’t pay less than that for the amazing work.
In the afternoon we visited several places starting with the Junagarh Fort which is considered one of the most beautiful palaces of the Maharajas. This ruling family in the area is still there and they still own the palaces, although they have been put into trust to maintain them and allow visitors. There were a few rooms that were so ornately decorated and gilded where they would take private audiences. Great views from the top of the fort as well. We then made our way to the palace that lay alongside a beautiful lake and was a huge hunting area for the Maharaja. There we had some drinks and snacks and strolled around the gardens by the lake and though the wooded area. Sam was excited to see all the Alexandrine Parakeet Parrot, like the metal sculpture of one he bought in Delhi. He also spotted an owl in the palace, now turned hotel, courtyard. We also spotted another kingfisher that had turquoise feathers and was just spectacular and larger than most.
From the hunting palace we were taken to a spot where we hopped aboard camel carts and were taken to our dinner spot in the sand dunes and to watch the sunset. The camels were actually a bit feisty and the whole thing was pretty funny. The camel’s would stick out their tongues and it looked like they were expelling an organ- they were huge and so gross! The ride was actually smooth on the cart and fun to visit with a couple other guests.
Dinner was on the sanddunes on carpets with large pillows to rest back on and they had entertainment by locals. The tribes are muslim and their worship is a combo of Hindu culture and Islam and they have Sufiism traditions of singing and dancing for a couple hours and working themselves into a euphoric state- almost similar to the Masai tribes of Kenya in the sense of the repetitive dancing becomes trancelike. The women had amazingly colorful costumes and loved watching them twirl and move their hands. Half way through the show the dancers put this stack of bowls on their heads and were dancing and then they brought out a board of nails and piles of glass that they would dance on without any harm being done. They are specialized in this and a tradition of their tribes and former entertainers to the Maharaja.
The evening cooled down and it was fun to sit in the desert and enjoy the surroundings. I am not going to lie by the end of the evening I had a bit of a headache from all the music and a busy day and was happy to get back to the train. Sam took an ice pack for his knee to bed with him. As the train pulled out it was crazy rocky tonight again. So much you could feel the food swishing around in your stomach. Sam and I were laughing how crazy bumpy it was. I took another sleeping pill to get myself to bed but Sam fell fast asleep. Exciting day.
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