Nepalese civilization is as rich and diverse as its majestic Himalayas and can be traced back to thousands of years before the birth of Christ. With its majestic fauna and flora, Nepal has a glorious cultural history, and not only does it have innumerable gods and goddess, which are worshipped and revered as statues, images, paintings and symbols, but it also has a real living goddess -- the Kumari.
The practice of worshipping a pre-pubescent girl as a source of divine power has been an integral part of Nepalese culture for ages -- a tradition that continues, even to this day, at the beginning of the twenty first century, virtually in every household, more distinctly evident among the Newar communities.
They call this virgin girl, a Kumari. She resides in the house famously known as the Kumari Ghar, the divine house that is right beside Kathmandu's enchanting tourist hotspot, Durbar Square. They worship her on all religious occasions, believing her to be the reincarnation of the Goddess.
Here in the Kumari Ghar, the living Goddess performs her daily rituals among solitude. During her tenancy in the divine house, the government trust fund bears her entire expenses including that of her caretakers, too.
Her special day is on Indra Jatra. On this day in the month of September, the Living Goddess, in all her jeweled grandeur, travels through the older part of Kathmandu city for three consecutive days in a three-tiered chariot accompanied by two other Gods, Ganesh and Bhairab,
It is a moving sight, and people in their thousands throng in and around Durbar Square to pay homage to the Living Goddess.
During this festival, she also blesses the king, in keeping with the tradition in which the first king of the Shah dynasty, who defeated the Malla kings' annexed Kathmandu valley in 1768 A.D, received a blessing from the Living Goddess.
However, history reveals that it was the Vajrayana section of Mahayana Buddhism that was responsible for establishing the tradition of worshipping a girl from the Sakya community as the royal Living Goddess.
Moreover, the selection of the Living Goddess is not easy -- it is a highly complex tantric rite. Upon passing the preliminary attributes of the perfection test, that includes the color of her eyes, the shape of her teeth, etc., these 4 to 7-year-old poor girls from the Sakya community are made to confront a goddess in a darkened room.
In the darkened room, they are put to further tests. The sight of masked dancers, buffalo heads, and horrifying noises they encounter scare some of these innocent toddlers and they end up crying.
But it is said that the real goddess is unlikely to be frightened by these scenes, so the one who is calm and composed throughout the tests is the only girl who is entitled to sit on the pedestal and be worshiped as the Living Goddess.
Then, as a final test similar to that of the Dalai Lama, the Kumari then chooses items of clothing and decoration worn by her predecessor.
Under ordinary circumstances, her days as the Kumari ends with her first menstruation, but if she turns out to be doomed, as they say, even a minor scratch on her body that bleeds can make her invalid for worship.
She then changes back to the status of a normal mortal just like us, and the search for a new Kumari begins.
Nevertheless, there is a heavy price a girl has to pay for being a Kumari later on in her life. The cost of becoming a Kumari is very high, and according to religious mythology, it is said to be unlucky to marry an ex-Kumari.
Reflecting on an emotional day, when she was dethroned, Maya (name changed) told me,When I first stepped out from the Kumari House and saw girls of my age moving around, I felt so happy that the scene bought tears to my eyes.
I used to be lonely inside the Kumari house, and there was this new world opening up for me. But now, I wish I had forever remained inside the Kumari house, because I am already 35 and still single -- no one is willing to marry me.
And this year, when I saw the new Kumari on the Indra Jatra, I couldn't see her after few moments, it was kind of scary for me. It was so sad, but at the same time, I was happy for her because she is the living goddess and everybody was paying homage to her.
"But this very thought brought tears to my eyes. In a few years time, straight from the goddess, she will be a normal human being like me," she whispered to me. I thanked her for giving me her precious time and waved good-bye. I headed straight to my home, and upon arriving, I slammed my door and wrote immediately on the piece of paper: The ways of God are as inscrutable as the future of the Living Goddess.
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