'Goddess' sacked for visiting US A 10-year-old girl who is worshipped as a living goddess in Nepal has been stripped of her title for defying tradition and visiting the US. Sajani Shakya was one of the three most-revered Kumaris, who are honoured by Hindus and Buddhists alike. Chosen after undergoing tests at the age of two, she had been expected to bless devotees and attend festivals until she reached puberty. But she provoked the ire of temple elders by travelling to the US. Attributes needed Sajani is a Kumari in the town of Bhaktapur, next to the capital, Kathmandu. She recently went to promote a documentary film in the US. Elders said the visit had tainted her purity, adding that they would now begin the search for a successor. Sajani was one of several Kumaris in Nepal, and among the top three who are forbidden from leaving Nepal. A Kumari is chosen between the ages of two and four, always from the same Buddhist clan. Tradition holds that she must hold 32 attributes, including thighs like those of a deer and a neck like a conch shell. She lives a confined life, only coming out of her palace three or four times a year until she reaches puberty when another Kumari must be found. This main outing coincides with a festival of thanks to the local rain god and as always, her feet must never touch the ground unless there is a red carpet beneath them. Last November Nepal's Supreme Court ordered an inquiry into whether the Kumari tradition has led to the exploitation of girls.
Perhaps this might be a chance for the girl to live a more normal life instead of living a very restricted life that adults have put her into. Or would she be banned from the normal live also and been treated as an outcast? -mellow Hope she can be a kid again and not some kind of 'child goddess'.
this is definately a form of child labor and exploitation.....hope she can live a normal life from now on. like having fun and so on.
but on the interview with ... (i want to say Diane Sawyer), she seems happy and enjoying the fact that she's a Goddess. who wouldn't? being taken care of hand and foot!
