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Worshipping the Living Goddess - B. Upadhyay B. Upadhyay is a freelance journalist.

Nepal has many different Gods and Goddess. Nepalese believe in incarnations and manifestations of their God and Goddess. This can be regarded as one of the unique aspects of their religion, the Hinduism. Nepalese people worship a living goddess in the flesh; Kumari. Although it is unique culture of Newars, worshipping the Kumari has long been incorporated into Nepal's Hindu and Buddhist religious practices. She is worshipped as the incarnation of the Goddess Taleju Bhawani (young Goddess Durga).

The custom of worshipping Kumari was established in the 16th century and it is still alive as one of the major cultural practices. The festival Indra-jatra, is celebrated in Kathmandu from September 10th through the first week of October. It is the time when Kumari, the living Goddess, is transported from a temple and carried through the city.

To be the Kumari, one has to pass several severe tests. Kumari is chosen from a large number of contestants at the age of four. Five senior priests choose the girl from the Newar Shakya caste. The chosen girl must meet 32 strict physical requirements, which range from color of her body to the sound of her voice, and shape of teeth. The girl, who meets these physical requirements, is then subjected to several other rigorous tests.

The most intense one is when terrifying noises in a dark room surround her and she is exposed to bloody buffalo heads that are remains of sacrifices to Kali during the Dasain festival. Kumari should be a girl who is not scared by all those dreadful sights and sounds. She must have a flawless body, free of any scars and defects. Finally, her horoscopes must match with that of the King of Nepal to ensure compatibility. People believe that Kumari has the power to confirm the King's rule. As the final confirmation, the girl has to choose the items of clothing and decoration used by her predecessor. This is how an ordinary four-year girl will then be crowned as the Living Goddess- the Kumari. Once the selection procedure is over, she must undergo secret rituals. She is brought to the temple located on the southern end of Durbar Square in Kathmandu City.

Her normal life consists of playing with the attendants and learning from a private tutor. She is never allowed to go out and enjoy the atmosphere. She is dressed in red sparkling robes together with glittering jewelry. Her forehead is painted with black lines. Only once a year, during the Indra-Jatra festival, she is allowed to leave the temple. On that day she is taken out by the priests and carried through the worshipping throngs in a huge procession of Kathmandu valley, where the King also visits the procession to obtain blessings of Kumari.

Kumari is allowed to stay as a living Goddess until she has her first menstrual cycle. Menstruation is seen as a mark of impurity and sexual maturity in Nepalese communities. After that, the search for a new Kumari will begin and the old Kumari will turn into an ordinary girl.

The sad part of it is that the ex-Kumari is no longer allowed to marry. There is a belief that marring ex-Kumari may bring death to the groom. She is seen as a cursed woman and she is not welcomed with open arms into any household. The blessing of being chosen turns into a curse. This depiction of the Kumari reveals a bad fortune, a narcotic reality of Nepalese women's lives and sexuality.

This is how Nepalese worship the virgin girl initially by honoring her and later surprisingly ruining her whole life. Actually, the word Kumari in Nepal means a virgin girl. There is great value of virginity in Nepal. Some traditional people even believe that having sex with a virgin will not only cure venereal diseases but also increase male life expectancy.

Almost all the time, I am reminded of the Kumari, the whole procedure of selection and people including the Royal King worshipping her, whenever I see, or hear the news about sexual harassment abuses and rapes in Nepal.

A friend of mine, who is a photojournalist, said, you can even order the fresh girls in recently proliferated fast food and dance restaurants of Kathmandu for your entertainment. You can choose them according to your budget. Therefore, you can imagine how rampant prostitution is in Nepal. You can say that sex has been offered on the menu of local restaurants or fast food centers in the country where a virgin girl, the Kumari, is worshipped.

I can simply narrate the story of Parvati, who had shared her story with me when I hired her as a domestic helper. She was just 12 when she experienced her first menstruation. Parvati was asked to stay in the cowshed for two weeks and was completely prohibited from going out. She was not even allowed to see the Sunlight and was sometimes left without food. "I used to cry the whole day thinking of my fate of being a girl," she would say.

Before her menstruation, her own uncle sexually abused her. She complained about it to her mom, but she never listened. Parvati's uncle was single and he used to insist on getting physically involved with him. The uncle had caught her once in the bushes in an evening, just at back of their house and tried to rape her. Upon shouting, the family members and villagers gathered to witness the scene. Later, Parvati was blamed for the incident and her uncle was never brought to justice.

Thereafter, she decided to run away from the house and she found herself lucky when she was hired as a dishwasher in a local restaurant, which paid just enough for hand-to-mouth existence. Though she was gratified with whatever she was given, she could not continue there after getting sexually harassed by the staff including the owner of the restaurant. Thinking of reporting, she went to police station, where an old policeman asked her to pay before filing her case. Upon stating her inability to pay, she was asked to spend one night with the policeman. After responding negatively, she was beaten and tortured. Anyhow she escaped from the scene and entered inside my house, with pain and anxiety she implored for help. "This is the time, I got something warm and secure, when I saw you in front of the door acknowledging me", she revealed.

I do not know why she felt herself secured after seeing me. But that was the time I found myself completely engulfed by her story, immersing deeper and deeper in my own thoughts. I can understand her painful story, however, find myself not in a position to act against them. It is not that easy in Nepal to have those mongers punished. It may take years for Parvati to avail justice. Therefore, I decided to provide shelter to her in my house for the time being thinking that she can also help me in household chores.

This is the sad story of one of the Kumaris of Far Western Nepal. I am sure that there are several other Kumaris, who are victimized by similar circumstances and finally caught by flesh traders to be brought to the KAVAL ring-Kanpur, Allahabadh, Varanasi, Agra, and Lucknow-source areas of prostitutes in the neighboring India.

Till we connect again...

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