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Hindu Rat Temple

Posted on: July 10, 2008 - 1:00pm

pauljohntheskeptic

Posts: 2517

Joined: 2008-02-26

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Hindu Rat Temple

Just when you think you have seen every possible bizarre activity of theists, along comes rat worship. The temple in the city of Deshnoke built in the early 1900s is dedicated to the rat goddess Karni Mata. According to their belief in the 1300s Karni Mati was a mystical matriarch who was an incarnation of Durga the goddess of power and victory. According to the stories a child of her clan had died and she attempted to bring him back to life. It was too late to do so as the child had already been reincarnated. She apparently made an arrangement with the Hindu god of death Yama that all of her clansmen would be reincarnated as rats until they were again reborn human in her tribe.

Even in India rats are generally not held in high esteem so this is very rare. There are something like 20,000 rats running all over this temple. Believers come from all around to walk among the rats and feed them. They believe white rats are a form of the goddess herself and just to touch one brings a great blessing for life.

See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACzWdSfZXmw

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/06/0628_040628_tvrats.html

____________________________________________________________
"I guess it's time to ask if you live under high voltage power transmission lines which have been shown to cause stimulation of the fantasy centers of the brain due to electromagnetic waves?" - Me

"God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, - it says so right here on the label. If you have a mind capable of believing all three of these divine attributes simultaneously, I have a wonderful bargain for you. No checks please. Cash and in small bills." - Robert A Heinlein.

Posted on: July 10, 2008 - 2:05pm #1

Watcher

Posts: 2326

Joined: 2007-07-10

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The madness doesn't just

The madness doesn't just stop there...

Quote:

John Frum (or Jon Frum, or John From) is a figure associated with cargo cults on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu. He is depicted as an American World War II serviceman, who will bring wealth and prosperity to the people if they follow him. He is sometimes portrayed as black, sometimes as white; from David Attenborough's report of an encounter: "'E look like you. 'E got white face. 'E tall man. 'E live 'long South America."
Followers of John Frum built symbolic landing strips to encourage American aeroplanes to land and bring them "cargo". In 1957, a leader of the John Frum movement, Nakomaha, created the "Tanna Army", a non-violent, ritualistic organisation which organised military-style parades, their faces painted in ritual colours, and wearing white t-shirts with the letters "T-A USA" (Tanna Army USA). This parade still takes place every year on February 15.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Frum

"I am an atheist, thank God." -Oriana Fallaci

Posted on: July 10, 2008 - 2:31pm #2

pauljohntheskeptic

Posts: 2517

Joined: 2008-02-26

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Watcher wrote:The madness

Watcher wrote:

The madness doesn't just stop there...
Quote:
John Frum (or Jon Frum, or John From) is a figure associated with cargo cults on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu. He is depicted as an American World War II serviceman, who will bring wealth and prosperity to the people if they follow him. He is sometimes portrayed as black, sometimes as white; from David Attenborough's report of an encounter: "'E look like you. 'E got white face. 'E tall man. 'E live 'long South America."
Followers of John Frum built symbolic landing strips to encourage American aeroplanes to land and bring them "cargo". In 1957, a leader of the John Frum movement, Nakomaha, created the "Tanna Army", a non-violent, ritualistic organisation which organised military-style parades, their faces painted in ritual colours, and wearing white t-shirts with the letters "T-A USA" (Tanna Army USA). This parade still takes place every year on February 15.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Frum

I wonder if John Frum made any cash on this or if he went back to the US and just laughed his ass off. In the Wiki article they say the islanders even made Prince Phillip a deity after he visited.