Officials in Nepal have begun the process of looking for a replacement for Living Goddess, Sajani Shakya. Sajani had her status as a Living Goddess revoked because she left the country to help promote a British documentary about the centuries old tradition. As one of the countries top three Living Goddesses she is forbidden to leave the country.

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.

The girls who serve as Living Goddesses or Kumari are chosen between the ages of 2 and 4 years. They are worshiped by both Hindus and Buddhists. The main Kumari is sequestered in a temple and is only allowed outside a few times a year for festivals. She only has select playmates. The other Kumari are allowed to live at home.

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 problem is that once they are no longer Kumari they generally have a hard life because folklore holds that men who marry a former Kumari die young.

I have no idea if having the title taken away from her means that Sajani will have her husband die young or not.

source

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