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A short 20min bus ride from the city of Bikaner in the North of Rajasthan, there is a small town which has been made famous for it's devotion to Karni Mata who is believed to be an incarnation of the goddess Durgha.

“Legend has it that rats have been revered ever since Karnidevi’s ["devi" just means "goddess"] stepson Laxman drowned in a tank and Yama, the god of death, refused to concede her request for Laxman’s rebirth, saying that he had already been reborn as a rat. Instead Yama promised her that from then onwards her male descendants would be born as rats in her temple at Deshnok. And once they give up their life as rats, they would be born again as human beings in the family of Depavats, as her descendants are known today. The rats here are sacred as they are regarded as incarnations of Karnidevi’s descendants.

Karniji's temple at Deshnok is home to (at peak population) more than 20,000 little Rattus rattus, who swarm all over any proffered food, and sometimes over humans (ones they know, anyway), in the manner of the pigeons in Trafalgar Square. Male and female rats in that area are called chuhas and chuhiyas - but the rats of Karni Mata are called kabas, Marwari for "little children", and if a visitor accidentally treads on and kills one (which is made less likely by the fact that visitors are required to take their shoes off before entering - though socks are permitted), he or she must atone for the death by presenting the temple with a lifesize model rat made of solid gold (according to most sources - though The Observer says solid silver).

More Info on the Deshnok Temple