‘Good men die young’ but one surely wouldn’t like to die young after marrying a girl being assigned a title of living goddess. This is what Nepalese folklore holds that men who marry a former Kumari will die young, and so many girls remain unmarried and face a life of hardship, in all passiveness.
The tradition is a serious violation of both International and Nepalese laws on child rights. It also forbids the so-called Kumaris from leaving Nepal and for that matter even her Palace until and unless it is the auspicious occasion of thanking the local rain god and as always, her feet must never touch the ground unless there is a red carpet beneath them.
After undergoing intensive tests at the age of two that demand all the 32 attributes including thighs like those of a deer and a neck like a conch shell, she is expected to bless devotees and attend festivals until she reaches puberty and not forgetting the restrictions on moving anywhere out of the palace or else face Sajini’s fate.
Sajani Shakya was one of the three most-revered Kumaris, who was stripped off her title as a living goddess just for the simple reason she traveled overseas to promote a documentary about the centuries-old tradition. Now she no longer can pin up her hair in topknots with red or paint a ‘third eye’ on her forehead.
Finally, a good reason to get rid of this taboo and a life of utter hardship.
