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| Entrance to the place where the Goddess gives darshan |
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| Outside the Kumari Ghar |
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| Window overlooking the public place. Probably from where the Goddess looks at the mortals. |
Place: Durbar Square, Katmandu
The temple that houses the living Goddess is just another beautiful brick and wooden-window building to the left of the white pillared palace.
Nepal has this centuries long tradition of worshipping a human being as the manifestation of their powerful Goddess-Talueja. A young girl, from the Shakya clan (Descendents of Gautama Buddha) is chosen after consultation with priests and Royals. She must apparently fulfill 32 criteriae and most importantly, must never have lost blood from any part of her body-not even when her milk teeth fall off!! The girls are chosen when they are about 3 or 4 years old and continue as long as there is no blood loss, only to be replaced by another similar girl when the event happens. Needless to say, all girls are pre-menarchal (not attained the first period)
The living Goddess is called Kumari and her temple-house is the Kumari Ghar at Durbar Square.
Within the main door is a rectangular open courtyard with carved wooden doors that lead off into more rooms or verandahs. To the left, at the corner is another unpretentious door which leads onto a narrow wooden staircase. “NO ENTRACE FOR FOREIGNERS” says a paper signboard. As Indians are not considered foreigners, we are allowed.
We trundle up the wooden stairs noisily before realizing it is very quiet around. Automatically we hush our tones and following others, we remove our sandals at the landing. Entering through a low wooden door we are in a wide verandah, rather than a room, in the middle of which sits the Goddess-all in flesh and blood!
There is a small throne, apparently fashioned for a six or seven year old child. It is actually a raised platform with a back rest and no arm rest. So that the child can easily slide off from the sides onto the lap of a person sitting on the floor next to the throne! And that was how the living Goddess was seated when we went to see her.
All of six or maybe seven years, she had slid off to her right, from the little throne and was now sitting in the lap of a 50+ year old woman, whom I thought was the guardian of the Goddess To the left of the throne, sat another lady a few years younger that the first. She was occupied with the chore of stuffing into a bag the currencies that were being offered at the feet of the Goddess.
To use the word peck-worthy and skinny for a Goddess could well sound blasphemous for her worshippers, but those were the adjectives that came to my mind then. Oval faced, pale skinned and underweight, she was dressed in red finery-complete with bright red lipstick, red bindi and even red socks! I cannot remember what headgear she wore because I was staring at her face and eyes. Though heavily made up with kohl, her expression was of dis-interest… spiritually oblivious (if it sounds less blasphemous!)Were she older, I would have described that look as condescending or arrogant! But for a seven-eight year old it can’t be anything other than boredom that arises because of the familiarity of a year-round routine!
She was sucking on a toffee within her mouth, lips pursed as the toffee rolled over in her mouth, shifting from her left cheek to the right. She seemed to be enjoying that more than her current devotees.
A middle aged couple had come in reverentially and the guardian had stretched out the Kumari’s red socks-ed feet. The couple bowed at her feet, made their offerings and after receiving the blessings, retreated to the stairs without showing their backs to the Goddess! We gawked at her and she ignored us as if we were no more than curious flies or mosquitoes!
“Does the same girl sit here every day?” I asked as I was then not aware of any of their traditions
“Yes.” Said the guardian. And before I could pry further, “Please make your offering, take blessings and leave!”
I felt like hoisting the kid high or even tickle her and hear her gurgling laughter. Or ask her how she felt sitting there in her finery all day or what she would like to do-eat an ice-cream perhaps? I admired how she kept an emotion-less face all through- out the public appearance... I don’t know why I did not touch her feet or make an offering and I left the room showing my back to her…Faithless, maybe!
I could not get the Kumari tradition out of my mind and was scouting for more information and the next day at the Patan Durbar Square, I found just the book. An autobiography of a previous Kumari, Miss Rashmila Shakya (Kumari from 1984-1991).I learnt that the name of the current Kumari is Matina Shakya and she was inducted as Goddess in 2008 when she was three years old!
I am now reading Rashmila’s book and hope to get an insight into what it feels like to be a Goddess and then later a mortal!!
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| Biography of ex-Goddess, Rashmila Shakya |
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| Rashmila Shakya with her co-author |
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