| Quote: |
KATMANDU, Nepal - Hindu and Buddhist priests chanted sacred hymns and cascaded flowers and grains of rice over a 3-year-old girl who was appointed a living goddess in Nepal on Tuesday.
Wrapped in red silk and adorned with red flowers in her hair, Matani Shakya received approval from the priests and President Ram Baran Yadav in a centuries-old tradition with deep ties to Nepal's monarchy, which was abolished in May.
The new "kumari" or living goddess, was carried from her parents' home to an ancient palatial temple in the heart of the Nepali capital, Katmandu, where she will live until she reaches puberty and loses her divine status.
She will be worshipped by Hindus and Buddhists as an incarnation of the powerful Hindu deity Taleju.
A panel of judges conducted a series of ancient ceremonies to select the goddess from several 2- to 4-year-old girls who are all members of the impoverished Shakya goldsmith caste.
The judges read the candidates' horoscopes and check each one for physical imperfections. The living goddess must have perfect hair, eyes, teeth and skin with no scars, and should not be afraid of the dark.
As a final test, the living goddess must spend a night alone in a room among the heads of ritually slaughtered goats and buffaloes without showing fear.
Having passed all the tests, the child will stay in almost complete isolation at the temple, and will be allowed to return to her family only at the onset of menstruation when a new goddess will be named to replace her.
"I feel a bit sad, but since my child has become a living goddess I feel proud," said her father Pratap Man Shakya.
During her time as a goddess, she will always wear red, pin up her hair in topknots, and have a "third eye" painted on her forehead.
Devotees touch the girls' feet with their foreheads, the highest sign of respect among Hindus in Nepal. During religious festivals the goddesses are wheeled around on a chariot pulled by devotees.
Critics say the tradition violates both international and Nepalese laws on child rights. The girls often struggle to readjust to normal lives after they return home.
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. |
| mOrpheuS wrote: |
| Please use quote tags when posting text you haven't written yourself. |
How about quoting your source?
| redslazers wrote: |
| How about quoting your source? |
wikipedia 
really interesting tradition...
that sure is odd about the heads of slaughtered animals... no way to treat a little kid if you ask me.
ye interesting tradition.. every religion and country has it own tradition...
but .. the girl is lucky 
whole country is going to worship her and with worship i guess she gonna be rich ...
| Quote: |
As a final test, the living goddess must spend a night alone in a room among the heads of ritually slaughtered goats and buffaloes without showing fear.
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LimpFish is right... o doubt that was the tough job.. and she passed it .. and she's just 3-4 years old
| Quote: |
| 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. |
that is the saddest part.. This seems like a horrible thing to do to a three year old. Even though she is worshiped, she will have plenty of problems in life. She will have no true childhood and her adult life will suffer because of this. I know it is just tradition but this doesn't seem right. It is however, very interesting to see the traditions of other cultures.
indeed interesting and frightening at the same time. different cultures fascinate me though, especially extremely weird things like these.
There are many cultures in this world. so, respect all the cultures. Whatever wikipedia says is half true. and about the men die young is just a myth and we have not faced any kind of trouble. She might get some kind of hardship. She will not be left at a temple with complete isolation an entire time of her being a goddess she will have some assistant to help her live there.
| binsmyth wrote: |
| about the men die young is just a myth and we have not faced any kind of trouble. |
??
Correct me if I misunderstand your statement, but it almost sounds as if you are claiming to have married a former Kumari. Or perhaps you were a Kumari... ? | binsmyth wrote: |
| There are many cultures in this world. so, respect all the cultures. |
Agreed. And that's not to say that any of the other cultures are that much better either. In quite a large number of cultures women are treated less than men.I live in nepal and i know much better about the tradition. Kumari is regarded as a goddess- that's fine. But the hardships she has to face in her life is really terrible. The name "Kumari" itself means unmarried and as it clarifies itself, the kumari generally remain unmarried throughout her life. She has high religious value although. I have heard that even our past kings(now nepal is a republic 
) touch the feet of kumari(They don't touch any other's) | fladry wrote: |
| I live in nepal and i know much better about the tradition. Kumari is regarded as a goddess- that's fine. But the hardships she has to face in her life is really terrible. The name "Kumari" itself means unmarried and as it clarifies itself, the kumari generally remain unmarried throughout her life. She has high religious value although. I have heard that even our past kings(now nepal is a republic ) touch the feet of kumari(They don't touch any other's) |
Doesn't she have a special spirituality then? It must be quite interesting for Kings to be touching her feet ... is it really that bad? | deanhills wrote: |
| fladry wrote: | | I live in nepal and i know much better about the tradition. Kumari is regarded as a goddess- that's fine. But the hardships she has to face in her life is really terrible. The name "Kumari" itself means unmarried and as it clarifies itself, the kumari generally remain unmarried throughout her life. She has high religious value although. I have heard that even our past kings(now nepal is a republic ) touch the feet of kumari(They don't touch any other's) |
Doesn't she have a special spirituality then? It must be quite interesting for Kings to be touching her feet ... is it really that bad? |
It means that she has so much high value.
