Rat

An animal with a prominent place in at
least two religious contexts. On one
hand, the rat is famous as the animal
vehicle of the elephant-headed god
Ganesh, and reinforces Ganesh’s identity as the Lord of Obstacles. If Ganesh’s
elephant head represents his power to
remove obstacles by simply knocking
them aside, his rat vehicle shows a
stealthier approach. Rats are famous
for their ability to work their way
around obstacles, slipping through the
smallest cracks in granaries to get to
the grain inside. In their ability to slip
around and between obstructing
objects, they stand as a worthy complement to Ganesh’s power.
Rats are also important to the temple
of the goddess Karni Mata in the village
of Deshnok, in the state of Rajasthan.
The Karni Mata temple is inhabited by
thousands of rats, considered to be
Karni Mata’s sons and thus sacred animals. According to tradition, when the
rats die they are reborn as members of
the families that comprise the temple’s
hereditary servants, and thus the rats
and the temple priests are all members
of one extended family.