Our first experience with IndiaRail's night trains was an excellent one, so we literally bounced out of the carriage and into the desert heat of Bikaner, an important trade route town on the fringes of the Great Thar Desert.
Our main reason for being in Bikaner was to visit Deshnok, some 30km to the south of Bikaner, and home to Karni Mata, a notorious Hindu temple (more about it later).
Bikaner
My first impression of Bikaner was that I had somehow been smuggled to North Africa on my overnight train journey: Minarets dotting the horizon, cows wandering dusty avenues, and hardly any green to be seen. Our proximity to the Pakistani border was making itself felt!
At the station we were met by Bilal, a guest house owner who knew how to say a phrase or two in Italian, and spent all our stay repeating said two phrases! Bilal promised us a reasonably priced stay at his guest house, and even offered to take us on a tour of the old quarters of Bikaner, so we took the plunge and followed. The guest house was clean, the rooms air cooled (when the power was actually on) and the food nice, if a bit pricey. I guess the guest house makes up for the low rent with higher prices for the food.
Bilal lived up to his promise and took us riding pillion on his motorbike into the heart of Bikaner, where he showed us some amazing Havelis (traditional houses) with intricately carved facades, the inside of a very luxurious boutique hotel that was reminiscent of a palace, and to an historic Jain temple dating back to the 1600s.
The Dark Side of Bilal
As the sun was setting Bilal suggested we go for beers at "a place he knows, close to the Maharaja's palace"... little did we know that the "place" was actually his friend's warehouse fabric outlet. We were given a couple of cold beers and treated to a display of several hundred different pieces of fabric in various shapes and sizes. This man's family had been in the business of weaving for countless generations, since his ancestors crossed into Rajasthan from Persia. All of these, wouldn't you know it, are designs that their factory makes for big European designer names, but which he is willing to sell to us at cost price. The man even tried to get us to buy Shatoosh, that is, a (very expensive) shawl made from the hair of the Himalayan Antelope. He of course neglected to mention how illegal the sale of Shatoosh is! I think Aaron and I were both still suffering from jet lag and beer, as we foolishly parted with what we later found out were quite large chunks of money for items that could be purchased in any market. Ah well, you live, you learn!
This story was to repeat itself several times on our travels in India: whenever we have been suckered into a warehouse outlet, the artisans have had their skills handed down several generations, they use only organic dyes and materials, and their prices are higher because their stock is of a MUCH better quality than what you can get in the market. Oh, and the government of India will pay for the postage of anything you buy from their shop to your home country! Needless to say, our wallets stayed shut as tight as clams at low tide whenever we inadvertently set foot into any of these outlets after our first bad experience!
Regal Bikaner
Now to get back to the nice things about Bikaner - we also visited the old fort Juganarh, a feature of nearly every major town or city in India thanks to the country's warring history. With no high ground to build their fort on, the Mughals had no option but to build their defensive structure upwards, and the higher levels provided stunning views over Bikaner and the desert beyond it. Our admission ticket included a guided tour, though since the guide was trying to keep up with explanations in both Hindi and English, both these were a bit rushed, however the guide still found time to take pictures of us together at important points of the tour! We did gather however that some parts of the fort were adorned with tiles imported from Holland (to the delight of some Dutch travellers who were in our group). The interior of the fort is as lavish as one would expect from the mighty Mughals, with plenty of marble, coloured glass panels, and intricate floral murals finished in gold leaf. An interesting feature of the Juganarh fort (and many others in India) are the women's quarters. These are always overlooking the public areas of the fort, including the halls of judgement, and the Raja's council hall, courtyards and gardens... The windows have Purda panels built into them - these are intricately carved frames that allowed the women to observe the goings on of the outside world, without being seen by outsiders, thus maintaining their dignity (Purda).
We finished our visit to Juganarh with a refreshing drink of Thums Up Cola (yes, without the B) - a cola drink manufactured by Coca Cola in India that tastes like concentrated Coke. Just what you need to whisk away the desert heat!
Karni Mata - RATS!
OK, so the real reason Aaron and I were so hell bent on taking a big detour into Rajasthan, avoiding the much more popular Udaipur or Jaisalamer, and heading to Bikaner, was so that we could visit the legendary Karni Mata temple in Deshnok. Legends state that in the 14th century Karni Mata, an incarnation of Durga, interceded with Yama, the god of death, to return to life the son of a grieving storyteller. When he refused, she turned all storytellers into rats, and snatched away some of Yama's supply of human souls. Yep, you guessed it, the temple is crawling with rats. They are all over the place, and, if you're lucky, all over you too (being touched by a rat brings a blessing). You can try to spot a white rat for an extra dose of good Karma, and if you're feeling especially in need of blessings, share some food with the rats (and eat after they've nibbled on it!!). Thread lightly though, as if you crush any of the Kabas (holy rats) you must replace them with their weight in silver!
Our local bus (20Rs - Euro 0.32) dropped us off on the edge of Deshnok, and the friendly locals (all sitting under the blissful shade of trees) pointed us in the direction of the temple. One of the local retailers was so happy to see foreigners in his shop that he turned on the fans for us, and begged us to take a photo with him (which he is expecting to receive in the mail!). He even wanted a ball point pen... one of the stranger requests we've had while travelling, but were more than happy to oblige!
The Karni Mata temple isn't very impressive on the outside, a white building with your usual Hindu deity statues adorning the façade. But as you step barefooted over the treshold, and the rat droppings begin to crunch under your feet (or was it chicory seeds the rats hadn't eaten yet?), you realise this isn't just any other temple. The smell of mice and pigeons is a shock, but you quickly get over that when you see Mickey mouse's big brother staring at you from the wall. You look down, and a few of his friends are huddled in a corner sleeping. With every step you take, you notice more and more of the rats. Luckily they stick to the edges of the room, close to their milk bowls and food offerings.
I had heard about Karni Mata from GlobeTrekker (Pilot Guides in America) - the popular Travel Channel backpacker's program... but the place (and the rats) looked so much cleaner on TV! Aaron has a theory that the Delhi tourism office organises a clean up of the temple whenever a film crew is about to approach the temple, as whenever we've seen it on TV it has looked spotless... ah well, I don't want to make us out as clean freaks of anything: we didn't pay much attention to the crunchiness underfoot, and even got up close to the rats with our macro lenses. Plenty of photos will be going up onto picasa once I get back to Malta.
Our detour into the deserts of Rajasthan to visit Karni Mata was more than worth it, this is a unique place, and provides a real taste of India away from the tourists and the touts. If you're not squeamish about rats being adored and fed, then by all means, put Bikaner on your travel itinerary!
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