A small town nestled in the Thar Desert area of Rajasthan, just 4 hours away from Jodhpur by train, Bikaner is the home to the Junagarh Fort, Laxmi Niwas Palace, and is only 2 hours away from the famous Karni Mata Temple. Jump in to explore them all.
I visited Bikaner during Diwali, and arrived just in time for a spectacular firework show. The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder and the sky was ablaze with colours. What an exciting environment!
We headed to our hotel to rest, and early the next morning, set off for a long day of touring. First stop, Junagarh Fort. Our guide was skilled in the art of taking Instagram-worthy pictures, and the old Italian tiles just made it perfect. Who knew that guides know so much about Instagram?
The fort has a fascinating history and a multilingual guide is a must to experience it to the fullest. He also gave us a recommendation of a nearby miniature painting artist’s academy, which paints intricate miniature paintings on your fingernail!
We ate lunch at the grand Laxmi Niwas Palace, then visited the lesser-known National Research Centre on Camel, which is about 30 mins from Bikaner. The centre is a professional research centre dedicated to camels, and it houses herds of camels.
We toured the camel enclosures and watched them all go about their daily business, then tried some unique camel-milk kulfi. I’m not big on ice cream, but I liked the taste of this one. We also bought an authentic camel-hair shawl from the gift shop. The camel products are all made from naturally departed camels’ bodies, of course.
I enjoyed the centre, but the best part of my stay in Bikaner was yet to come. It was the Karni Mata Temple, also known as the Temple of Rats. Dedicated to the founder goddess of Bikaner, Karni Mata, the temple is swarming with hundreds of rats. Real brown, black, and white rats.
The rats are EVERYWHERE, climbing on the deities, on the floor and walls, drinking milk from plates, and they are completely unafraid of humans. I even touched a sweet little baby rat! The priests and locals in the temple are used to this, while tourists like us enjoy an exclusive experience, clicking away like mad.
There is a rat feeding corridor with food and water bowls, and a giant structure with turrets and levels which serves as a rat hatchery or living area. Tons of rats flock in the hatchery structure and in the rest of the temple, and it is a belief that if you spot the less common white rat, it is lucky.
I loved the whole temple and was especially enchanted by the acceptance of the locals and devotees: rats were not only safe and well taken care of, but revered and respected. We took lots of beautiful photos and touched many furry rats; the Temple of Rats has really captured my heart.
Enjoy the Temple of Rats and Bikaner!
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