Living Goddess Kumari of Patan, Nepal
Living Goddess Kumari playing sarod for anubhuti !!
Is the world Outside the temple a challenge for a living goddess?
Read the story...
On a sunny day of March 2014, we thought of staying a while more in that small temple house which was once an abode of Kumari. We asked the locals around if we could find the house of Kumari. Hundreds of devotes, the sound of grand festivity and celebration, none of it was there.
Somebody showed us the wooden staircase to a small 02 bedroom house. With a little hesitation, we called out, Hello, is somebody there? There was a lady peeped out of a window and asked us why we were there? "We are from Belgium and would love to meet Kumari?" She came down, a nice humble lady, greeted us and took us up-stairs to a simple but clean room.
All around on the walls of the little dark room, there were Kumari¹s photos hanging. These picture were taken when she was a living Goddess with thousands of people around the temple worshiping her and seeking her blessing since she was named a Kumari in year 2010. We started imagining how it would be for her and we were so curious to meet her.
She appeared to be a little girl of age 12, slim and beautiful. Her actual name was Samita, which she hardly remembered, as she was always called living goddess, Kumari.
In Nepal, Kumari is a tradition of worshiping young girls as a manifestation of the divine female energy. Kumari is selected by the Nepali Newari community and worshiped at the main temple of Patan and Kathmandu as the incarnation of the goddess Durga ( Goddess of Power ) until she begins her menstruation, after which, it is believed that the goddess vacates her body.
Samita was the previous Kumari of Patan and now still lives for a little while in this small house in the temple compound with her parents and brother. When we asked her how her life was after Kumari, she didn¹t have any expression. As a Kumari, she lived in a temple and was the center of admiration when she was carried on a chariot during festivals and worshiped by thousands of devotes.
Her mother told us that she was happy to be back with the children of her age but was struggling to catch up with the pace of study and up-bringing as many things surprised her and many others were of no interest as she had gained a wide sense of maturity before her age. She was having extra classes at home now to catch up with her study in school.
It looked like a challenging transition for her as the world outside the temple is absolutely strange to her. We have seen many human turning as God-man or monk but for an ex-Goddess, becoming a human can be very perplexing. Some part of the society also fears to marry a Kumari as she is believed to be an incarnation of goddess. We left the place with curiosity and worries, would she ever enjoy her conjugal life?
Surely, we wanted to meet her again to know about her life being an ex-living goddess.
Not after a long time, when Helga and I were in Nepal for some work, we again knocked the same door. Her mother, now an acquaintance, was happy to see us. 06 months had passed and now Samita looked more confident girl. She was comfortably conversing with us in English, shared her daily routine, and most importantly going to school. She plays sarod and on our request played some nice music for us.
She wishes to open a Facebook account soon and loves history. It felt great seeing how nicely she was adapting to the new environment and ready to find her identity.
inspired by anubhuti
Видео Living Goddess Kumari of Patan, Nepal канала anubhuti
Is the world Outside the temple a challenge for a living goddess?
Read the story...
On a sunny day of March 2014, we thought of staying a while more in that small temple house which was once an abode of Kumari. We asked the locals around if we could find the house of Kumari. Hundreds of devotes, the sound of grand festivity and celebration, none of it was there.
Somebody showed us the wooden staircase to a small 02 bedroom house. With a little hesitation, we called out, Hello, is somebody there? There was a lady peeped out of a window and asked us why we were there? "We are from Belgium and would love to meet Kumari?" She came down, a nice humble lady, greeted us and took us up-stairs to a simple but clean room.
All around on the walls of the little dark room, there were Kumari¹s photos hanging. These picture were taken when she was a living Goddess with thousands of people around the temple worshiping her and seeking her blessing since she was named a Kumari in year 2010. We started imagining how it would be for her and we were so curious to meet her.
She appeared to be a little girl of age 12, slim and beautiful. Her actual name was Samita, which she hardly remembered, as she was always called living goddess, Kumari.
In Nepal, Kumari is a tradition of worshiping young girls as a manifestation of the divine female energy. Kumari is selected by the Nepali Newari community and worshiped at the main temple of Patan and Kathmandu as the incarnation of the goddess Durga ( Goddess of Power ) until she begins her menstruation, after which, it is believed that the goddess vacates her body.
Samita was the previous Kumari of Patan and now still lives for a little while in this small house in the temple compound with her parents and brother. When we asked her how her life was after Kumari, she didn¹t have any expression. As a Kumari, she lived in a temple and was the center of admiration when she was carried on a chariot during festivals and worshiped by thousands of devotes.
Her mother told us that she was happy to be back with the children of her age but was struggling to catch up with the pace of study and up-bringing as many things surprised her and many others were of no interest as she had gained a wide sense of maturity before her age. She was having extra classes at home now to catch up with her study in school.
It looked like a challenging transition for her as the world outside the temple is absolutely strange to her. We have seen many human turning as God-man or monk but for an ex-Goddess, becoming a human can be very perplexing. Some part of the society also fears to marry a Kumari as she is believed to be an incarnation of goddess. We left the place with curiosity and worries, would she ever enjoy her conjugal life?
Surely, we wanted to meet her again to know about her life being an ex-living goddess.
Not after a long time, when Helga and I were in Nepal for some work, we again knocked the same door. Her mother, now an acquaintance, was happy to see us. 06 months had passed and now Samita looked more confident girl. She was comfortably conversing with us in English, shared her daily routine, and most importantly going to school. She plays sarod and on our request played some nice music for us.
She wishes to open a Facebook account soon and loves history. It felt great seeing how nicely she was adapting to the new environment and ready to find her identity.
inspired by anubhuti
Видео Living Goddess Kumari of Patan, Nepal канала anubhuti
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