<p>I had heard a lot about the highly revered pilgrim town of Deshnok, tucked away in the Bikaner district of Rajasthan. On my visit to Bikaner, a couple of months ago, I decided not to miss the experience of travelling to the remote hamlet of Deshnok and seek the blessings of Karni Mata, an incarnation of Goddess Durga and the reigning deity of the hamlet.<br /><br /></p>.<p>We had set out from Bikaner to travel across the countryside of Rajputs in the early hours of dawn. We were far from the madding crowd of the city and passed through the forgotten hamlet of Palana. As Deshnok approached, I got a glimpse of a host of heritage guest houses and havelis. The town has not emerged out of the time warp and echoes the timeless story of the goddess. <br /><br />A historically-rich pilgrim spot, Deshnok is well-known for the fascinating, wondrous shrine of Karni Mata that attracts an incessant steam of devotees round the year. On reaching Deshnok, we stepped towards the shrine complex dotted with a row of sweet sellers and shops selling puja items. We geared up to shop for puja offerings and quickly made towards the shrine.<br /><br />The medieval shrine of Karni Mata is an architectural treasure in the Rajput history comprising golden domes at its top and massive carved silver door at the entrance. The shrine has rich carvings with animal motifs, latticed windows and projections. Dating back to hundreds of years, the inner premises of the shrine is home to scores of rodents and as mythology puts forth, the rats belong to the family of the deity. This is incidentally the only shrine in the country where rodents are believed to be the incarnation of the goddess and are fed by devotees. Once we were in the shrine complex, we had to make our way through a huge crowd to get a glimpse of the goddess. The morning aarti was on and we were on time to pay our offerings to the deity. <br /><br />Numerous carvings depicting tales from the life of the goddess were seen on the interiors of the shrine. The inner sanctum of the shrine bears the trident-wielding image of the goddess and is quite crowded at the time when the puja is performed.<br /><br />It is believed that Karni Mata was a goddess who lived during the 14th century in Deshnok, and performed miracles with her divine power. When she brought her dead son back to life, she was granted a boon that her clan would not descend into the kingdom of Yama, but take birth as rodents. Most devotees visit the shrine to fulfill their wishes. <br /><br />Close to the Karni Mata shrine is the temple of Manubaiji, the grand daughter of the goddess. We also visited Aawra Mata, who was worshipped by Karni Mata. Other notable shrines in the premises were Lakshmi Nath Temple with silver doors and colourful statues of many gods on the ceilings. <br /></p>
<p>I had heard a lot about the highly revered pilgrim town of Deshnok, tucked away in the Bikaner district of Rajasthan. On my visit to Bikaner, a couple of months ago, I decided not to miss the experience of travelling to the remote hamlet of Deshnok and seek the blessings of Karni Mata, an incarnation of Goddess Durga and the reigning deity of the hamlet.<br /><br /></p>.<p>We had set out from Bikaner to travel across the countryside of Rajputs in the early hours of dawn. We were far from the madding crowd of the city and passed through the forgotten hamlet of Palana. As Deshnok approached, I got a glimpse of a host of heritage guest houses and havelis. The town has not emerged out of the time warp and echoes the timeless story of the goddess. <br /><br />A historically-rich pilgrim spot, Deshnok is well-known for the fascinating, wondrous shrine of Karni Mata that attracts an incessant steam of devotees round the year. On reaching Deshnok, we stepped towards the shrine complex dotted with a row of sweet sellers and shops selling puja items. We geared up to shop for puja offerings and quickly made towards the shrine.<br /><br />The medieval shrine of Karni Mata is an architectural treasure in the Rajput history comprising golden domes at its top and massive carved silver door at the entrance. The shrine has rich carvings with animal motifs, latticed windows and projections. Dating back to hundreds of years, the inner premises of the shrine is home to scores of rodents and as mythology puts forth, the rats belong to the family of the deity. This is incidentally the only shrine in the country where rodents are believed to be the incarnation of the goddess and are fed by devotees. Once we were in the shrine complex, we had to make our way through a huge crowd to get a glimpse of the goddess. The morning aarti was on and we were on time to pay our offerings to the deity. <br /><br />Numerous carvings depicting tales from the life of the goddess were seen on the interiors of the shrine. The inner sanctum of the shrine bears the trident-wielding image of the goddess and is quite crowded at the time when the puja is performed.<br /><br />It is believed that Karni Mata was a goddess who lived during the 14th century in Deshnok, and performed miracles with her divine power. When she brought her dead son back to life, she was granted a boon that her clan would not descend into the kingdom of Yama, but take birth as rodents. Most devotees visit the shrine to fulfill their wishes. <br /><br />Close to the Karni Mata shrine is the temple of Manubaiji, the grand daughter of the goddess. We also visited Aawra Mata, who was worshipped by Karni Mata. Other notable shrines in the premises were Lakshmi Nath Temple with silver doors and colourful statues of many gods on the ceilings. <br /></p>
