Jaipur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Rajasthan on Thursday. He will inaugurate 103 redeveloped railway stations of 86 districts across 18 States and Union Territories of the country from Bikaner, the district on the international border with Pakistan.
Along with this, the PM will lay the foundation stone, inaugurate and dedicate to the nation multiple development projects worth over Rs 26,000 crore and also address a public meeting in Palana.
After Operation Sindoor, this will be the first visit of PM Modi to Rajasthan which shares 1072 km international border with Pakistan and inaugurating the development projects worth crores of rupees here is being taken as a message of developing India to the neighboring country.
The PM will visit the famous Karni Mata temple in Deshnoke and flag-off Bikaner-Mumbai express train as well.
Under the Amrit Station scheme, well over 1,300 stations are being redeveloped with modern facilities, designed to reflect regional architecture and enhance passenger amenities.
As per the government release, the Deshnoke railway station, serving pilgrims and tourists visiting the Karni Mata Temple among others, is inspired by temple architecture and arch and column theme. Begumpet railway station in Telangana is inspired by the architecture of the Kakatiya empire. Thawe station in Bihar incorporates various murals and art works representing Maa Thawewali, one of the 52 Shakti Peethas and depicting Madhubani paintings. Dakor station in Gujarat is inspired by Ranchhodrai Ji Maharaj.
The Karni Mata Temple of Deshnoke, the Temple of Rats
Karni Mata Temple of Deshnoke where PM Modi's visit is proposed in Thursday is a prominent and unique temple.
located 30 km south of Bikaner, in Rajasthan, It is popularly known as "Temple of Rats" as around 20000 rats known as kābā are there in the temple. They are considered holy and treated with utmost care by devotees as it is beleived that Karni Mata chose the embodied form of the kābā (rat) — so that when human Charanas from her lineage die, they will be reborn as kābā and live near her within the temple, and when kābā die, they will again be reborn as human Charanas.
The kābā reside and move in spaces throughout the inner temple complex, including within the main temple, the kitchen, near the massive iron pots used to make halwa, in the various side rooms, and on the rooftop. In each space, there are different food items available to the kābā.
Of the thousands of rats in the temple, there are a few white rats, which are considered to be especially holy. They are believed to be the manifestations of Karni Mata herself and her four nephews. Sighting them is considered a special blessing and visitors put in extensive efforts to bring them forth, offering prasad, a sweet holy food.
The temple draws visitors from across the country for blessings, as well as curious tourists from around the world.
The temple was originally constituted around 1530, after the mahaprayan of Karni Mata. It initially began with the inner sanctum covered by the dome and grew in size with constructions being added by the devotees through the following centuries.
