The Royal Kumari

The Royal Kumari, a prepubescent girl selected from the Shakya clan of the Nepalese Newari community, is the name of the living goddess in Kathmandu. The Kumari is worshipped by some of the country's Hindus as well as the Nepali Buddhists. Kumari literally means virgin in Nepali and is a name of the goddess Taleju (the Nepalese name for Durga) as a child. She lives in the Kumari Ghar, a palace on Kathmandu Durbar Square. A Kumari is believed to be the bodily incarnation of the goddess Taleju until she menstruates, after which it is believed that the goddess vacates her body.

The selection process is rigorous. Eligible are girls from the Shakya clan, the caste of silver and goldsmiths, who meet the basic requirements (among others: good health, never shed blood, no blemish, never lost a tooth). Girls who meet these requirements are examined by the priests for the 32 'attributes of perfection', including - poetically described - a body like a banyan tree, eyelashes like a cow, a chest like a lion and a voice soft and clear as a duck's. Additional examination, e.g. a matching horoscope to the king's, will follow before the greatest test where the candidate proves that she possesses the required qualities to be a Kumari. On the 'kalratri' (black night), during the Hindu festival of Dashain, the candidate is taken to the Taleju temple where 108 sacrificed buffalo and goat heads are illuminated by candlelight and masked men are dancing around. If she shows no sign of fear spending the night in the temple, the final test is to identify the belongings of the previous Kumari from things laid out before her.

Each year the Nepalese King seeks the blessing of the Royal Kumari at the festival of Indra Jatra. Indra Jatra is a holiday related to Hindu god king of heaven, Indra. During the festival the Kumari leaves the seclusion of her temple in a palanquin and leads a procession through the streets of Kathmandu. This tradition has changed recently with the country becoming a republic. From 2008 the president of Nepal sought Kumari's blessing instead.

This year, the ceremony took place in the afternoon of Sunday 11th September. Both Nepal's president, Dr Ram Baran Yadav, and the (new) prime minister, Dr Baburam Bhattarai, followed the procession from the balcony of the old Royal Palace. The crowds, separated in tourists and Nepalese, screamed twice during the one hour event on Kathmandu Durbar Square. First, when the Kumari was carried in her palanquin on the square and, second, when the Nepal-assembled Golchha Mustang SUV (see earlier post) stopped in front of the palace.

The tradition, an elementary part of Nepalese culture, has been strongly criticized and reform has been requested over the last decade. While some reforms have been implemented, e.g. education for the Kumari, apparently in 2007 the Nepalese Supreme Court had ordered an enquiry into human rights violations. A report seems still waiting to be delivered.