Girl, 3, chosen as latest living goddess
NEPAL: A 3-year-old girl in Kathmandu was anointed yesterday as the city’s latest Kumari, or living goddess, in a lavish ceremony, despite calls for the tradition to be banned.
Trishna Shakya was taken from her family home and moved to a palace in the Nepalese capital, where she will be waited on until she reaches puberty.
The Kumari is not allowed to leave the residence except for 13 holy festivals each year. Her feet are never supposed to touch the ground. Even a glimpse of her is believed to bring good luck.
Some activists, however, have called for the practice to be banned, claiming that it amounts to child labour.
Although they receive a pension from the Nepalese government, former Kumari have spoken of the difficulty of making the transition back to normal life after they get their first period and are deemed no longer divine.
Nepal’s Supreme Court dismissed a petition for the Kumari to be disbanded in 2008, citing the cultural value of the ancient tradition.
Uddhav Man Karmacharya, a Hindu priest who attends to the Kumari, said Trishna was chosen from four girls. The selection criteria are strict. Aspiring Kumaris must show 32 characteristics of perfection, including an unblemished body, ‘‘thighs like a deer, chest like a lion and eyelashes like a cow’’.
In a final test, Trishna proved her worth by showing no fear when a buffalo was sacrificed in front of her. ‘‘She will take her place on the Kumari’s throne after we perform prayers and tantric rituals,’’ Karmacharya said.
Like her predecessors, Trishna is from the Newar community indigenous to the Kathmandu valley, where traditions incorporate elements of Buddhism and Hinduism. The previous Kumari, Matine Shakya, was anointed in
2008 at the age of 3 and will now start school.
After an earthquake killed more than 9000 people in Nepal in
2015, the Kumari became a figure of solace. Her rare public appearances were even more heavily attended as people sought consolation amid the ruins of Kathmandu’s temples and palaces.