Kumari Devi, the living goddess, sits in her chariot as she prepares to travel the streets of Kathmandu during the Indra Jatra festival.
The festival, named after the Hindu God of Rain, Indra, is celebrated by Buddhists and Hindus. Timed to celebrate the end of the Monsoon, the festival sees the appearance of Kumari, the living goddess, on the streets of the capital. Kumari is a girl who lives in the Kumari Bahal close to Kathmandu’s Durbar Square. Selected from a caste of Newari gold and silversmiths, she is customarily between 4 years old and puberty. If she bleeds, or when she reaches menstruation, then she is replaced by a new living goddess, and the girl returns to the mortal world.
A complex set of procedures are followed to choose each new living goddess. First she must conform to 32 physical characteristics, including eye colour, shape of teeth, and sound of voice. The suitable candidates are then placed in a darkened room, where horrific noises are made, men dance in grotesque masks and the heads of 108 buffaloes are displayed. Those who show no fear must then choose items of clothing and jewellery belonging to their predecessor. Only at this stage is a new Kumari Devi (goddess Kumari) chosen and installed at the Kumari Bahal, with her parents.
The origins of the custom date back 250 years during the reign of Jaya Prakash Malla, the last of the Malla kings of Kathmandu. One story tells of a paedophile king who had intercourse with a young girl who then died as a result. In penance he started venerating a young girl as a goddess. Another tells of a young girl, possessed by the goddess Durga who was banished from the kingdom by the King, but brought back by his furious wife and established as a living goddess.
Kumari makes only six forays into the world each year, the most spectacular being when she travels through Kathmandu on a large temple chariot over a three day period during the 8 days long Indra Jatra in September. On Kumari’s first appearance in front of a packed Durbar Square, the King receives her blessing for his continued reign of Nepal. However, this year, in a dramatic break with tradition, the king was not allowed to appear at the festival, his place being taken by the Prime Minister G.P Koirala. As the Monsoon rains continued to fall, and as the clamour for a Republic fails to abate, the King can no longer even rely on the symbolic confirmation of his continued reign in the country.
The festival, named after the Hindu God of Rain, Indra, is celebrated by Buddhists and Hindus. Timed to celebrate the end of the Monsoon, the festival sees the appearance of Kumari, the living goddess, on the streets of the capital. Kumari is a girl who lives in the Kumari Bahal close to Kathmandu’s Durbar Square. Selected from a caste of Newari gold and silversmiths, she is customarily between 4 years old and puberty. If she bleeds, or when she reaches menstruation, then she is replaced by a new living goddess, and the girl returns to the mortal world.
A complex set of procedures are followed to choose each new living goddess. First she must conform to 32 physical characteristics, including eye colour, shape of teeth, and sound of voice. The suitable candidates are then placed in a darkened room, where horrific noises are made, men dance in grotesque masks and the heads of 108 buffaloes are displayed. Those who show no fear must then choose items of clothing and jewellery belonging to their predecessor. Only at this stage is a new Kumari Devi (goddess Kumari) chosen and installed at the Kumari Bahal, with her parents.
The origins of the custom date back 250 years during the reign of Jaya Prakash Malla, the last of the Malla kings of Kathmandu. One story tells of a paedophile king who had intercourse with a young girl who then died as a result. In penance he started venerating a young girl as a goddess. Another tells of a young girl, possessed by the goddess Durga who was banished from the kingdom by the King, but brought back by his furious wife and established as a living goddess.
Kumari makes only six forays into the world each year, the most spectacular being when she travels through Kathmandu on a large temple chariot over a three day period during the 8 days long Indra Jatra in September. On Kumari’s first appearance in front of a packed Durbar Square, the King receives her blessing for his continued reign of Nepal. However, this year, in a dramatic break with tradition, the king was not allowed to appear at the festival, his place being taken by the Prime Minister G.P Koirala. As the Monsoon rains continued to fall, and as the clamour for a Republic fails to abate, the King can no longer even rely on the symbolic confirmation of his continued reign in the country.
1 comment:
What a fascinating tradition!
Oriental pop-idol?
Keep safe
Moira
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