KATHMANDU: A three-year-old girl has been named the new Kumari of Nepalese capital Kathmandu after her predecessor retired when she reached puberty. Continuing an ancient tradition that sees young girls worshipped as “living goddesses”, Trishna Shakya has been anointed as the new Kumari in a ceremony and been taken from her family home to live in a palace in Kathmandu's ancient Durbar Square. She will be attended to by specially appointed caretakers.
Hindu priest Uddhav Man Karmacharya, who attends to the Kumari, said Shakya was selected from four candidates. “She will take her place on the Kumari's throne after we perform prayers and tantric rituals,” he said. Once she is anointed a living goddess, she will only be allowed to leave her new home 13 times a year on special feast days. Shakya will be paraded through Kathmandu in ceremonial dress and elaborate make-up to be worshipped. Once outside, the Kumari who is considered an embodiment of Hindu goddess Taleju, is carried because her feet are not allowed to touch the ground.
Process for selection for aspiring Kumaris is very strict and include a number of specific physical attributes such as an unblemished body, a chest like a lion, and thighs like a deer. Once a girl fulfils all physical requirements, she must prove her bravery by not crying at the sight of a sacrificed buffalo. Practised by the Newar community, it blends elements of Hinduism and Buddhism, with the most important Kumaris representing each of the three former royal kingdoms of the Kathmandu Valley: Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhaktapur.
The tradition is historically closely linked to the royal family and continues despite the end of Nepal's Hindu monarchy in 2008. The outgoing Kumari, Matine Shakya, was anointed in 2008 at the age of three.
