A 10-year-old Nepalese girl was stripped of her title as a living goddess because she traveled overseas to promote a documentary
about the centuries-old tradition Sajani Shakya had her status revoked because she broke with tradition by leaving the country, said Jaiprasad Regmi, chief of the government trust that manages the affairs of the living goddesses.
Sajani is among several "Kumaris," or living goddesses, in Nepal, and as one of the kingdom''s top three, is forbidden from leaving the country. However, last month she went to the United States and other countries to promote a British documentary about the living goddesses of the Katmandu Valley. She is to return to Nepal this week.
"We have begun the process to search for a new Kumari," said Regmi, adding that a task force would determine suitable candidates.
Ishbel Whitaker, director of the film "Living Goddess" said she was shocked and saddened by this news and would make sure the girl''s education was provided for. "The rule of not being able to leave was never a rule before.... Nobody ever said the Kumari can''t travel" she said by telephone from London.
Whitaker said they filmed in Bhaktapur for a year. "We had been speaking with people we felt were authorities, and now these others are claiming they are," she said.
The film crew consulted anthropologists, the head priests of Sajani''s temple and her parents, the director said. And she said the Nepalese Embassy helped arrange Sajani''s trip to the U.S.
Living goddesses are worshipped by both Hindus and Buddhists. The girls are selected between the ages of 2 and 4 after going through several tests.
They are required to have perfect skin, hair, eyes and teeth, they shouldn''t have scars or wounds, and shouldn''t be afraid of the dark. They always wear red, pin up their hair in topknots and a "third eye" is painted on their forehead.
Devotees touch the girls'' feet with their foreheads, the highest sign of respect among Hindus in Nepal.
During religious festivals the girls are wheeled around on a chariot pulled by devotees. Living goddesses usually keep their title until their first menstruation.
The main Kumari lives a sequestered life in a palatial temple in the capital, Katmandu. She has a few selected playmates and is allowed outside only a few times a year for festivals.
Others like Sajani are allowed to stay at home, attend regular school and take part in festivals.
The government last year announced a monthly pension of $40 for serving and retired Kumaris. Previously, the main Kumari received only a gold coin during an annual festival and the other girls received whatever was offered by devotees.
Nepalese folklore holds that men who marry a former Kumari will die young, and so many girls remain unmarried and face a life of hardship.
Critics have said the tradition violates both international and Nepalese laws on child rights. But the film director said the Kumari tradition can be modern as well.
"Sajani seemed to be a great example of how the tradition can move into the modern age," Whitaker said. She said she made the film because the living goddess tradition is beautiful and worth capturing before it disappears.
What really is the KUMARI, the living goddess!
Kumari, or
Kumari Devi is a living Hindu goddess in Nepal. Kumari literally means virgin in Nepali. A Kumari is a prepubescent girl selected from the Shakya caste of the Nepalese Newari community. The Kumari is revered and worshipped by the country''s Hindus as well as the Nepali Buddhists, though not the Tibetan Buddhists.
While there are several Kumaris throughout Nepal, with some cities having several, the best known is the
Royal Kumari of Kathmandu, and she lives in the Kumari Ghar, a palace in the center of the city. The selection process for her is especially rigorous. The current Royal Kumari, Preeti Shakya, was installed on July 10, 2001 at the age of four.
A Kumari is believed to be tion of the goddess Taleju until she menstruates, after which it is believed that the goddess vacates her body. Serious illness or a major loss of blood from an injury are also causes for her to revert to common status.
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History
Whilst the veneration of a living Kumari in Nepal is relatively recent, dating only from the 17th century, the tradition of Kumari-Puja, or virgin worship, has been around for much longer. There is evidence of virgin worship taking place in India for more than 2,600 years. It appears to have taken hold in Nepal in the 6th century. There is written evidence describing the selection, ornamentation and worship of the Kumari dating from the 13th century.
There are several legends circulating about how the current cult of the Kumari began. Most of the legends, however, lead back to King Jayaprakash Malla, the last Nepalese king of the Malla Dynasty. According to the most popular
legend, a red serpent approaches the King''s chambers late one night as he plays tripasa, a dice game, with the goddess Taleju. The King begins to admire the surpassing beauty of Taleju, the patroness of his royal lineage, realizing that her beauty surpasses that of his own wife. His amorous thoughts, however, are found out as the goddess is able to read his thoughts.
Standing abruptly, Taleju rebukes the king for his lustful thoughts and declares that if he is ever to see her again, it will be in the form of a young girl from a shakya caste. Hoping to make amends with his patroness, the King leaves the palace in search of the young girl who was possessed by Taleju''s spirit. Even today, a mother''s dream of a red serpent is believed to portend the elevation of her daughter to the position of Royal Kumari. And each year, the Nepalese King seeks the blessing of the Royal Kumari at the festival of Indra Jatra.
A variation of this and other legends names King Gunkam Dev, a 12th century ancestor of King Jayaprakash Malla as the main character rather than Jayaprakash Malla.
Another legend of the origins of the cult of the Kumari is more disturbing. According to this legend, King Jayaprakash Malla had intercourse with a pre-pubescent girl who later died as a result. The King, overcome with guilt, began having dreams that told him that he must begin to search for each young incarnation of Taleju. To make penance for his actions, he must then worship the Kumari and ask for her blessing each year.
A third variation of the legend says that during the reign of King Jayaprakash Malla, a young girl was banished from the city because it was feared that she was possessed by the goddess Durga. When the Queen learned of the young girl''s fate, she became enraged and insisted that the King fetch the girl and install her as the living incarnation of Durga.
Selection process
Once Taleju has left the sitting Kumari, there is a frenzy of activity to find her successor. Some have compared the selection process to the process used in nearby Tibet to find the reincarnations of Tulkus, such as the Dalai Lama or the Panchen Lama. The selection process is conducted by five senior Buddhist Vajracharya priests, the Panch Buddha, the Bada Guruju or Chief Royal Priest, Achajau the priest of Taleju and the royal astrologer . The King and other religious leaders that might know of eligible candidates are also informed that a search is underway.
Eligible girls are Buddhists from the Newar Shakya caste of silver and goldsmiths. She must be in excellent health, never have shed blood or been afflicted by any diseases, be without blemish and must not have yet lost any teeth. Girls who pass these basic eligibility requirements are examined for the battis lakshanas, or ''thirty-two perfections'' of a goddess. Some of these are poetically listed as such:
A neck like a conch shell
A body like a banyan tree
Eyelashes like a cow
Thighs like a deer
Chest like a lion
Voice soft