There have been some such personalities in the ancient people’s life of Rajasthan who have taken their lives for public welfare and became immortal in the form of God. Most of them are considered as the incarnation of Various Gods, here you can study about the Lok Devi’s Of Rajasthan.\
Karni Mata
- Birth – 1587 AD (V.No.1444)
- Place – Suwap Village, Jodhpur
- Father – Meha ji Charan
- Mother – Deval
- Childhood Name Ridhu Bai / Riddhi Bai
- Karni Mata was married to Depaji Bithu of Deshnok (Bikaner)
- Karni Mata is the Kuldevi of Charan and the main deity of Rathore’s of Bikaner.
- Karni Mata gave up her married life and got her sister Gulab married to Depaji.
- Karni Mata’s temple is situated in Deshnok, 25 km from Bikaner. On National Highway 89,
- Karnimata’s fair is held in Deshnok during Navratris.
- White rats are called Kaba in the temple of Karni Mata, Karni Mata is famous as the goddess of rats.
- Deshnok was established by Karni Mata herself.
- Karni Mata laid the foundation of Mehrangarh fort with her own hands on 12th May, 1459
- Bikaner was also established with the blessings of Karni Mata.
- The initial place of worship of Karni Mata was Nehdi in Bikaner, under a jaal tree.
- The temple of Karni Mata is called Math.
- White eagle is also considered as the incarnation of Karni Mata
- Silver Entrance doors of the temple were installed by Maharaja Ganga Singh of Bikaner.
- According to folk belief, Karni Mata had adopted Lakhan, the son of her sister Gulab Kunwari, who had died, but Karni Mata revived by her powers.
- In the age of 151 years, Karni Mata sacrificed her life in 1538 AD at Dhireru ki Talai in Diyatra village, Bikaner.
A Brief Story of Karni Mata
The main Temple of Karni Mata in Deshnok, also known as “ the Temple of Rats”, is 30 km from Bikaner. Karni Mata was basically a Hindu sage who was born as the seventh daughter of Charan Rajput clan in 1387 AD in Suwap village of Jodhpur district. She was believed to be the incarnation of Goddess Durga. Her original name was Ridhu Bai. She was married to Depoji Charan of Sathika village but after just two years of married life and despite the initial mockery from her husband, she married off her sister Gulab to her husband and left the village forever in order to fulfill her desire to leave all the worldly affairs and live life like a Nomad.
After wandering for some time with her followers and herd, she reached Deshnok and finally settled here and also by then she became Karni Mata. The temple is famous for its enormous population of 25,000 rats which are religiously known as “Kabbas”. The story behind the rat population is that once the stepson of Karni Mata,
Laxman, fell and died in the Kapil Sarovar in Kolayat Tehsil in attempt to drink water. After continuous pleading from Karni Mata, Yama, The God of Death, agreed to retrieve her son as a Rat and also permitted all her male children to be reincarnated as Rats. The Kabbas are known to be very holy and feeding them with sweets and eating the food nibbled by them is considered as “prestigious”. The temple in Udaipur too has a considerable number of white and black Kabbas. Karni Mata laid the cornerstone of two major Forts of Rajasthan that is Fort of Jodhpur and Fort of Bikaner. On March 21, 1538, while returning Deshnok, the Convoy halted in order to drink water near Kolayat Tehsil. When the followers got back to her she was nowhere to be found and after much search, she was never found hence she just disappeared then and there at the age of 151 years.
Tanot Mata
- Tanot Mata (Vaishno Devi of Thar)
- Tanot Mata’s temple is located in Tanot, Jaisalmer, this temple was built by Bhati ruler Tanurao in 888 AD.
- The priest here is a soldier of the Border Security Force(BSF).
- In front of the Tanotia Mata temple, a victory pillar symbolizing India’s victory from the memories of the Indo-Pak war 1965 AD.
- She is also Known as Rumali Mata or Rumali Devi
The story of Tanot Temple at the Longewala border in Rajasthan is one such miraculous tale when the local deity Tanot Mata didn’t let any Pakistani tank bomb explode and Indian soldiers who were certain of martyrdom and defeat went on to crush the Pakistanis in both 1965 as well as 1971 wars.
The legend say that in both wars more than 3,000 bombs were dropped either in the vicinity or while of the temple, but none exploded. And one can see some of those bombs in the Museum built by BSF inside the temple premises.
Situated 150 Kms from the city Jaisalmer in Western most point of Rajasthan, Tanot has become one of most visited tourist spots especially for those who love the wilderness of Rajasthan and admire stories related to army heroics.
Jeen Mata (incarnation of Durga)
Birth – Dhandhu Village, Churu
Childhood Name – Jayanti / Jaivan Bai
Father – Dhandhu
Brother – Harsha (form of Bhairav)
The temple of Jeenmata is situated on the hills of Adavala in Raivasa of Sikar.
According to the inscription located on the Harsh mountain, the Jeen Mata temple was built during the reign of Prithviraj Chauhan I, in 1064 AD (V.S. 1121).
It is believed that at the Jogi Talab ( located near Jeen Mata Temple), Pandavas spent some time during their ‘Agayat Was’ alo there is a life-size statue of Pandavas.
Jeen Mata’s song (Cheerja) is the longest song among all the folk goddesses, sung by Kanphate Jogi.
Two and a half cups of wine are offered. Which is now banned. – Here in the year 2003, a film was made on them under the name Jai Jeen. – Their fair is held every year in the Navratras of Chaitra and Ashwin months.
