Karni Mata

Karni Mata, also known as Bhagwati Karniji Maharaj, was a Hindu goddess of power and victory who lived between the 14th and 16th centuries in Western Rajasthan. She is described as a warrior sage and is revered as a tutelary deity of the Rajputs and Charans of northwestern India. As a Sagati, she is worshipped as an incarnation of Hinglaj or Durga.

Karni Mata played a significant role in the history of the region. With her blessings, Rao Jodha and Rao Bika founded the kingdoms of Jodhpur and Bikaner. At the request of the Maharajas of Bikaner and Jodhpur, she laid the foundations of Bikaner Fort and Mehrangarh Fort, the two most important forts in the region. She lived an ascetic life and was widely revered during her lifetime.

The most famous temple dedicated to her is the Karni Mata Temple of Deshnoke. The temple and its surrounding Oran land are considered a sacred sanctuary for all living beings, and no one is to be harmed there. In Rajasthan, Blackbucks are regarded as sacred because Karni Mata is believed to protect them. Indian Army troops from the Marwar region also regard Karni Mata as their patron deity.

Karniji, named Ridhi Kanwar at birth, was born at the Suwap village on Asoj Shukla 7th of Vikram Samvat 1444 (1387 AD). Her father, Mehaji Kiniya, was the lord of the village and belonged to the Kiniya clan of Charanas. The founder of the Kiniya clan lived at Khod in the Kathiawar region of Gujarat. In the 13th century, Bhimal, a fourth generation descendant of the founder, left home and migrated to the Janglu region in Northern Rajasthan. He received a grant of land from Rai Sankhla, the ruler of Janglu, where he founded a village named Kiniya-ki-Basti and lived there. Mehaji Kiniya was born four generations later in the lineage of Bhimal. He was a contemporary of Meha Mangaliya, the ruler of a surrounding region in Jodhpur, from whom Mehaji Kiniya received a grant of a village called "Suwa-Brahman-Ki-Dhani", later renamed to Suwap.

Karniji's mother was Deval Bai of the Arha (or Adha) clan. Deval Bai was the granddaughter of Arha Mandha, the ruler of Adha (or Asada) village, situated on the border of Jodhpur and Jaisalmer. The birth of Karniji was the long‑awaited culmination of the prayers and piety of Mehaji Kiniya, the father of Bhagwati Karniji, and a great devotee of Hinglaj. He had, in quest of the boon, undertaken the long and arduous journey to Hinglaj in Las Bela of present‑day Balochistan province of Pakistan. While Karniji's father was undertaking the pilgrimage to Hinglaj, the Goddess Hinglaj appeared to her mother and foretold the coming of the Devi.

Karniji was born as the successive sixth girl child. It is said that her mother had an abnormally long gestation period which lasted for 21 months, and the girl was named Ridhi Kanwar.

Karniji, later known as Karni Mata, was born in the village of Suwap on the 7th of Asoj Shukla in Vikram Samvat 1444, which corresponds to 1387 AD. Her birth name was Ridhi Kanwar, and she was the sixth daughter of Mehaji Kiniya, the lord of Suwap and a member of the Kiniya clan of Charanas. Her mother, Deval Bai of the Arha clan, was the granddaughter of Arha Mandha, the ruler of the village of Adha on the border of Jodhpur and Jaisalmer. The long gestation of 21 months and the prayers of her father, a devoted pilgrim to Hinglaj, culminated in the arrival of the child who would later become a revered deity.

From an early age, Karniji was involved in the political and spiritual affairs of the region. In 1418 AD, she declared Rao Ranmal as the ruler of Janglu after he had visited her camp and received her blessing. She prophesied that he would later become king of Mandore as well, and she advised him to accept the terms of serving his stepmother. Although Ranmal offered her a share of the kingdom, she declined, stating that the acquisition of territories was not her mission and that governance belonged to the Rajas.

Karniji’s influence extended beyond Janglu. She was consulted by several Rajput rulers, including the Rathores of Jodhpur and the Bhatis of Jaisalmer. The rulers of Jaisalmer—Chachagdev, Devidas, Ghadsi, and Jaitasi—paid homage to her and sought her blessings at Deshnoke. Her presence was also felt in the Mewar kingdom, where a shrine dedicated to her was built by the Charanas in Bheemal Charanan. The priestess Viri Maa, renowned for her prophecies, played a key role in the succession dispute between Rana Sanga and Prithviraj, ultimately predicting Rana Sanga’s victory.

Later, in the 18th and early 19th centuries, the royal families of Alwar continued to honor her. The second ruler of Alwar, Maharao Raja Sawai Bakhtawar Singh, constructed a temple in her name near the Sagar Palace and Bala Qila. The royal family of Alwar has since maintained two temples dedicated to Karni Mata within Bala Qila and Rajbhawan, underscoring her enduring significance in the region’s spiritual and political life.