Wender·Vista
Karni Mata Temple
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileIndia
in Deshnoke, south of Bikaner

Karni Mata Temple

— — the temple the rats kept watch over.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A marble temple in the Rajasthani desert town of Deshnoke, about thirty kilometres south of Bikaner. Inside, some twenty-five thousand black rats live freely; kabbas, the temple holds them sacred. Pilgrims walk barefoot among them, leave milk in shallow bowls along the colonnade, and watch for the rare white one. Nobody hurries here.

from the studio
Karni Mata Temple
— bring it home

Karni Mata Temple, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Karni Mata Temple

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Karni Mata Mandir sits in Deshnoke, a small town in Rajasthan's Bikaner district, roughly thirty kilometres south of Bikaner city on National Highway 89. The temple is dedicated to Karni Mata, a fourteenth-century Hindu sage revered as an incarnation of the goddess Durga. The present marble facade and silver doors were commissioned by Maharaja Ganga Singh of Bikaner in the early twentieth century. Elevation runs near two hundred and thirty metres on the flat Thar plain, and the town is served by road and rail from Bikaner most of the day.

— informed by Wikipedia
— the stone

The facade is white Makrana marble, the same quarry that supplied the Taj Mahal, set against the buff sandstone of the surrounding Thar. The silver doors at the entrance were donated by Maharaja Ganga Singh in 1912 and carry repoussé panels showing scenes from Karni Mata's life. Inside, the floor is polished stone worn smooth by centuries of bare feet, and small marble basins line the courtyard for milk offerings. The work is restrained. Desert craftsmanship that lets the white catch the morning.

— informed by Wikipedia
— the visit

The temple opens before dawn and closes after the evening aarti, with no admission charge for the sanctum. Pilgrims remove shoes at the outer gate and walk barefoot on stone the rats cross freely; spotting one of the rare white kabbas is considered a blessing from Karni Mata herself. Photography of the inner shrine is restricted, and a small fee applies to cameras at the gate. Milk and sweets are sold at the courtyard stalls and offered in shallow bowls along the colonnade. Buses and shared jeeps run from Bikaner.

— informed by Rajasthan Tourism
— where
India · Deshnoke, Bikaner, Rajasthan
— elevation
230 m · 755 ft
— position
27.7950° N · 73.3433° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
30 km N
Bikaner
desert city
32 km N
Junagarh Fort
Rajput fort
N
Karni Mata Temple
Bikaner
Junagarh Fort
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Karni Mata Temple — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Local tradition holds that Karni Mata, the fourteenth-century sage, restored her devotees to life as kabbas, the temple rats. Killing one is forbidden, and seeing a rare white kabba is considered a blessing.

Around twenty-five thousand black rats live inside the temple complex. They are fed milk, grain, and sweets by pilgrims and temple staff, and roam freely across the marble floor of the sanctum and courtyard.

The temple stands in Deshnoke, a town about thirty kilometres south of Bikaner in Rajasthan's Thar Desert. It sits along National Highway 89, with regular bus and rail service from Bikaner.

The current marble facade and silver doors were commissioned by Maharaja Ganga Singh of Bikaner in the early twentieth century. The site itself has been a place of pilgrimage for several hundred years before that.

The sanctum has no admission charge. A small fee applies to cameras at the gate, and shoes must be left at the outer entrance; foot socks are sold at stalls outside for visitors who want them.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. Karni Mata is one of the most distinctive shrines in the Bikaner region, and the white marble reads instantly to anyone who knows Deshnoke. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio carries well.

The whites, marigold golds, and indigo shadow tones suit Jewel-tone Maximalist, Bohemian Eclectic, and Indo-modern rooms. It also holds its own against plain limewashed walls where the colour does the work.

A single Large reads well above a console at eye level. Above a sofa, step up to a four-tile or nine-tile Mural so the architecture has room to breathe at viewing distance.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and handle steam and splashes; the Glossy finish is meant for dry wall display rather than wet rooms.

A soft microfibre cloth and plain water. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, so it cannot fade, scrub off, or chip away with normal household cleaning.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is created in-house by Reid Wender and produced in our Knoxville studio. We do not license images and the work appears nowhere else.

— if this one stayed with you

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