Karni Mata Temple

Deshnoke's temple to Karni Mata, a 15th-century mystic venerated across the region as a form of Durga and closely tied to Bikaner's ruling Rathore dynasty, is known internationally for the thousands of black rats that live within its sanctum and are fed and protected as reincarnated devotees, a belief unique among major Rajasthani shrines. The current marble facade and solid silver doors were added in the early 20th century under Bikaner's Maharaja Ganga Singh, layering colonial-era Rajput courtly patronage over an older folk shrine tradition. Architecturally the temple is less significant for grand form than for its finely worked marble screens and silver work, executed in a idiom shared with Bikaner's palace architecture of the same period. Its combination of royal patronage, distinctive ritual practice, and continued active devotion makes it one of the more unusual stops on a Rajasthan itinerary, illustrating how regional folk cults were absorbed into formal temple architecture under princely sponsorship.