Holy rats

Before I even stepped into the temple I knew I wasn't going to like it.  I hesitated before putting my bare foot down, hiked my pants up, and thought about what exactly I was going to be stepping on and contemplated turning back.  I looked up and saw the temple filled with people calmly walking through and decided if they can all do this, I can too.  While everyone in the temple was praying to their god, I was praying that I could keep it together enough to not scream if a rat ran over my foot.  Ahead of me I saw a man jump away and decided I could allow myself that much if one got too close.  Behind me Sanjay was reassuring me, again, that the rats are holy so they won't bite.

These little guys are everywhere.  They cover the edges of the room and crisscross the floors between people's feet.  They climb gates so when you turn your head there are rats at eye level.  I'm not sure what I had expected but it wasn't what I saw.  I do know that when I had read the word "rat" in the guide book in my head I had pictured the rats in pet stores - nice and clean.  These weren't like that.  We are told some of them were feeling hot and resting, though I'm not so sure they were simply sleeping.  Death is certainly the fate of these rats if they chose to escape the temple; they are only holy when living inside.  But why would they want to leave when they rats are fed a steady diet of sweets and sugary milk?  

Jeremiah handled it much better than I did.  He seemed as calm as the others and was willing to stop and get close to them to take pictures.  We searched unsuccessfully for the extra special white rat that is supposed to be very lucky to see.  I personally was glad to leave the temple and I'm okay if I never experience that again.