Drew Binsky takes us on a fascinating journey to a remote corner of India where a man named Gajendar worships 25,000 rats at a temple in Bikaner, Rajasthan, North Western India. In this video, Drew explores the bizarre world of the Rat King and delves into the beliefs and practices of Gajendar and his community.
The video showcases the daily life at the rat temple, where Gajendar and others live among the rats, considering them as the reincarnation of their deceased family members. The rats are believed to be the descendants of their ancestors, and they are treated with reverence and care. Drew explores the rituals and customs followed at the rat temple and even partakes in some of them, including drinking holy milk and interacting with the rats.
Throughout the video, Drew immerses himself in the unique culture and traditions of the rat temple, trying to understand the significance of these beliefs to the people who worship there. Despite the overwhelming smell and sights of the rat-infested temple, Drew respectfully engages with Gajendar and his family, gaining insight into their way of life.
Overall, the video provides a captivating look into the world of rat worship in India and offers viewers a glimpse into a lesser-known aspect of Indian culture. Drew’s adventurous spirit and curiosity lead him to uncover the fascinating story of Gajendar and his connection to the rats, showcasing the diversity and complexity of beliefs around the world. So, join Drew on this extraordinary journey to witness the intriguing rituals and practices of the Rat King in India.
Watch the video by Drew Binsky
This man worships rats they are my family his name is gajendar and he lives inside of a rat infested temple in Northwestern India 25,000 rats crawling through holes jumping on your lap and even swimming in your lunch bowl I came here to learn why this rat Temple exists
And to test myself to see how far I can go outside my comfort zone don’t go anywhere we are just about to enter the rat Temple here in Baner rajastan State Northwest India I took the one once a week flight out here with my local friend shoom I’m excited and we’re
Equally as excited as nervous about what’s waiting for us inside the rat Temple just a man with a big stick we are looking for the keeper of this sacred Place who we contacted before coming here I have so many questions for him we are going to keep our shoes
Because shoes are not allowed inside the temple we can already see the rats there so are the rats going to like eat our shoes or what no no no it’s it’s completely safe as early as 4:00 in the morning the temple is open to the public
This is the eighth Ed Venture of the world gajendar and local Believers offer sacrifices to the rats in the form of cheese sweets and this giant bowl of milk people drink that people are just drink milk and health is good can you show me yeah please show very holy milk which animal’s milk
Is that it’s cow cow milk cow milk never get a sick stomach problem from the milk no no no no no problem never play Nothing rats are known to carry dozens of diseases and many people believe they caused a European black death which killed tens of millions of people their
Dirty bodies transmit life bacteria viruses and fleas and they contaminate food and water supplies with their urine and feces mate you want to try the milk yeah sure you want to try the milk I can you will yeah I’m an Hindu person man it’s good it’s really holy and I
Don’t fear anything I can drink man no problem and I can trust Hinduism above anything this is my friend have you how long did you know each other more than 20 years 20 years tell me about him descendant of the K ma the direct descendant how many generation 50
Generation I believe five or 5 5 50 so the first thing I realized when I walk in here is the smell there’s like this rancid sticky smell in the air smells like rats no it’s smell there is no smell no disease nothing no but just a
Smell I can smell the rats for them it’s nothing no smell nothing they’re very habituated to it this is my family we say Caba can we go see your family yes okay how many rats are in the temple uncounted no counted are 1,00,000 is underground Hall and this wall is full
No idea every little room in this Temple is just covered in rats look at this when I think of rats I think about the New York City Subway or something that comes up in my dumpster at home but here they worship them it’s really fascinating if you’re wondering why G
Jender keeps calling the rats his family it’s because he actually believes they are The Reincarnation of his loved ones it is said that these rats are descendants of the people from here yes parents grandparents uncles aunts and long-lost cousins this belief has been passed down over hundreds of generations
And is stronger than ever today so this is the life here just chilling on the floor hanging out with rats feeling the rat’s feet crawling across my skin is disgusting but I’m told this is a special sign of good fortune and I’m all about cultural immersion oh it just
Feels weird they like grab onto your leg you don’t eat the rust no no no no because these are my family they’re all my family why this is very holy to understand this place we have to unpack the legend the temple is dedicated to carim mat a Hindu goddess of power and
Victory The Story Goes that when carim mat asked the god of death to reincarnate her dead followers her her wish was granted allowing them to be reborn as rats since then this Temple has become one of the most important pilgrimage sites for members of the chodon cast we’re now entering the main
Area of the temple here whoa all the people behind me are pushing to get to the front of the temple so they can say their prayers to the rats it’s wild how they’re like aggressively pushing to the front it’s getting really crowded in here there is
A men Temple people are coming here and praying for Kim mat how do people feel when they see the rats very lucky feel is very better Kim is happy like a blessing so in every Indian temple the queue is formed to just have a look Just
One Look of maybe 2 seconds 5 Seconds depending on the crowd they want to look at what the goddess and just say what their wishes that’s it what is going on right now the world famous temple special people are playing here only this is very big Dia very big Dia in in
India ship like this is a Dia which lights every year this is system system of blessing this is a man P part this is world famous part this Temple is 600 years old very unique Temple world famous what are they doing uh this time is like a or or orange color especially
Is a blessing for good I’m stepping on a combination of R poop and trash not only is it the rat Temple it’s also the Cockroach Temple this place is absolutely disgusting you can see how busy it is all these people are coming in to go worship the goddess inside
People here are surrounded by more than 20,000 rats when I think of rats I think of Filth disgust like smell bad like diseases but here people are embracing them and living with them it’s crazy sometime ACD accidentally R is die put you step you step on it yeah I step on
And that is there so we gave and made silver what they did is they made a mice of silver and offer to the goddess and sorry are you the only people in India that worship rats and mice or do other people do it too only one Temple so
Because these are my family family person if you’re on the street somewhere and you see and you see a rat what do you do do you pick it up no no no no no this all is all outside rat not come here oh some time is here coming this
Rat is biting and killed no coming never coming here lot of rats biting the craziest thing about this place is the rats are very comfortable with humans they’ll eat directly from your hand crawl on your shoulder or simply just hang out with you and believe it or not
It’s considered good luck to eat food that they’ve nibbled on here is the kitchen in the back and it’s surrounded by rats hundreds of rats on the floor of the kitchen what the even the doorway has Rats on it uh this is is a temple kitchen but the the rats are eating the
Food right now yeah we are also the same these are my family so we are together eating together sleeping nothing because these are my family what is a rat’s favorite food M like a fruits anaj like a bajra weight everything when you sleep are the rats with you in the bed yeah no
Problem you don’t wake up and the rat is looking in your face are you sleeping yeah walking nothing no biting no biting no but they make sound in your ears no no no no no I’m sleeping good field I’m not scared I’m very lucky because I live
In my together family this sleeping to very too much eating food sleeping yeah yes all this food is offerings from people and they redistribute it as food for both the rats and the people talk about sanitation I don’t know this guy here is dishing out like 20 meals a
Minute it’s crazy look at all the people in in the doorway begging I’m being pushed try out by this guy for the Kim mat offering and after like a pad we gave everybody person here coming like a pad for Kim mat this is pad very holy I’m in the back alley
Behind the rat Temple and you can see rats everywhere water that the rats are drinking and they’re just climbing through every single hole in this entire place ginda is telling me that he sleeps here in the rat Temple one of the back rooms let’s go check it out so this is
Where you sleep no here is pujari and we have sleep here oh you sleep on the floor in the floor you have AC nice yeah AC also we are now going upstairs to the secret chamber of the Rat Temple lot of rats here see more more here yeah there’s way more rats up
Here here everywhere everywhere everywhere this is cool going through a secret window passage here the views on the rooftop are absolutely stunning stunning and the smell of rats has suddenly vanished this Temple is 600 years old your ancestors opened it before time Kim she’s leaving here 100
One here she is praying Parvati and Shiva the upstairs here at the temple at sunset is beautiful I’m almost stepping on rats as I go down smelling here oh dude out of the 25,000 rats that live here there is one that rains Above the Rest that is the white cabba which is
Believed to be the Reincarnation of Carney mat herself if you’re lucky enough to spot it it is good luck and you are blessed what is it the white mouse oh yeah the white mous white mous yeah yeah yeah how do you feel when you see the
White mice so it’s good luck she is very good luck she is very happy his visit success and all family is very healthy good and blessing meet blessing man I’m really happy that I saw the white mouse because last night I was having a conversation with my dad and he has been
To this Temple and he mentioned that like if you get to see the white mouse feel lucky I can’t handle the smell any longer so I’m going outside with gajendar to learn more about this rat Temple what was it like growing up here and when were you first introduced to
The significance of the rats from childhood he’s been coming to the temples with the families following the rituals so as he grew up he became very friendly with them so now he is one of the priests of the temple so how many priests do you have have at the
Temple the priest changes every one month because everyone needs the opportunity to to take care of the Goddess is there someone recognized as like the highest priest here yeah there is one he’s a Brahman whom they consider his priest the guru you know you believe that all those
Thousands of rats are actually people Souls yeah so essentially you’re around all of your ancestors when you’re in the temple absolutely abely depending on what kind of work you did in the whole life you get to stay inside the temple accordingly inside the temple it’s heaven and hell if you keep
A rat as your pet and you keep on feeding him he will get fat right but inside the temple there is no lack of food but still the rats are of the same size they are like same body same structure why because the goddess has
Given them that form if the rat dies in the house it it it becomes like a very big thing like it smells a lot but here it’s just the normal smell it’s not like the smell of like a dead rat it’s just the poop kaj Jinder has taken us to the house
That he grew up in where his family is currently living you know as a traveler it’s really important that you respect religions and you try to understand and ask questions and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing so far in this story but I can’t deny the fact that it’s pretty
Disgusting and this is my own personal op opinion just infested with rats people are eating with them drinking with them and they are dirty creatures there’s no denying that they’re dirty nonetheless his wife is kind enough to make us some chai so we’re going to have
A chai and chill for a little bit chai and chill thank you very much so you have kids two daughters two daughters two daughters can girls become priests or only men only men only men only men this is traditional of in a temple do you think one day women can become priests
In the future no no no never can you imagine living a life without rats no never never because I uh he cannot live without being around rats because since the childhood he has always seen the rats he has been among them as he has mentioned again and again
The rats are his family so he cannot be away from rats so the question here stands like he don’t want to do that like stay away from rats ever this is what travel is all about although I will probably never go back to the rat Temple
I do respect those that worship here and I’m grateful for gajendar for showing me around now it’s time for a quick shower before heading to South Korea where I’m going to meet up with a North Korean friend to hit the streets of Soul I’ll see you guys next week the mouth just
Went on my camera oh now he’s on Mon disgus they’re your family bro my family yeah a
Video “He Worships 25,000 Rats (And Sleeps With Them)” was uploaded on 03/09/2024. Watch all the latest Videos by Drew Binsky on Gretopia