The courtyard of Kumari Bahal in the Durbar Square in Kathmandu is slowly filling up with people. Kumari Bahal, a magnificent three storeyed structure with intricate carvings, is the residence of the living goddess of Kathmandu. We are part of the eager visitors to have a glimpse of this living goddess also known as Kumari Devi. She appears at the window on the first floor to give darshan to the public, exactly at 4.15 pm every day. The atmosphere is charged with a sense of anticipation.

We stare in admiration at the strikingly beautiful architecture of the Kumari Bahal with its exquisitely carved Newari style wooden windows with intricate trelliswork. However, all our attention is riveted on the central window on the first floor facing us where the Kumari will make her appearance. A few moments pass and a sudden hush falls among the waiting crowd. All eyes are on the window where the Kumari has appeared, elaborately adorned and resplendent in her red and gold finery, a gentle, almost shy smile playing on her lips, flashing dark eyes painted with kohl, drawn from the edge of her eyes to her ears. She is there for all of 20 seconds and has vanished even before we have recovered our breath!

Nepal attracts a steady stream of tourists to savour its rich heritage of striking architecture and its splendid temples. With its many layered history and culture, it is a tourist’s delight and a fascinating country to explore. The tradition of the ‘The Living Goddess,’ the practice of venerating a young virgin girl, Kumari, as the incarnation of goddess Taleju Bhavani, adds an air of mystery to the image of Nepal. And as one tourist guide put it, it is the unique selling point of Nepal as a tourist destination. For centuries,  the Nepalese royalty have been using these living goddesses to lend legitimacy to their rule.

In the Kathmandu Valley, there are three Kumaris – of Bhaktapur, of Patan and of Kathmandu. The practice of venerating the girls as goddesses dates back to the reign of Jayaprakash Malla, the last of the Malla Kings of Kathmandu, whose reign came to an abrupt end after Prithvirnarayan Shah conquered the valley in the year 1768. As they say, in Nepal, ‘there is never one simple answer to any question’! It is the same with the tradition of the living goddess.

Many legends are associated with this tradition. The most popular one is that of a Malla king who played the game of dice with goddess Taleju, the protective deity of the valley, who used to secretly visit him every night. One day the king made an unseemly advance to the goddess. The enraged goddess threatened to withdraw her protection to the royal family. When the repentant king begged for forgiveness and pleaded with her not to abandon him, the goddess relented and promised to return in the form of a young girl.

The Kumari has to be chosen with great care, as she is the receptacle of the goddess Taleju’s spirit. The selection process is a highly elaborate tantric ritual. The learned priests of the Kumari board, whose job it is to select the right candidate, cannot afford to make any mistakes. The girls aged two to four years, must be of the Buddha–Sakya clan belonging to a community of goldsmiths. The preliminary test requires that she should satisfy the 32 attributes of perfection. These perfections include the colour of her eyes, texture and the colour of her hair, shape of her teeth, her voice, et al. Her skin must be free from blemishes, her body sturdy, her voice crystal clear and her hands and legs delicate and dainty. Her horoscope must match that of the king. After the preliminary selection is over, a further round of tests begin to finalise the candidate who is going be the goddess. The finalists are gathered in a darkened room, where men with terrifying masks dance to the accompaniment of horrendous sounds. Bleeding heads of freshly slaughtered buffaloes are hung all around for display. The idea is to see that the 'real' goddess is undaunted by these goings on and shows no signs of fear.

 The ultimate test is yet to come. In a process similar to that of selecting the Dalai Lama, the Kumari has to choose from a variety of items of clothing and jewellery, the ones worn by her predecessor. Only a goddess will have the prescience to choose the items, as she has never seen them before. Once chosen, the Kumari moves into the Kumari Bahal, which becomes her residence until she is dethroned when she attains puberty.

Once she is enthroned as the goddess, she will be cut off from her family and installed in her divine chambers. She remains sequestered for the rest of her tenure, will not talk to ordinary mortals and her feet will not touch the ground. She will have the third eye, a symbol of divinity, painted on her forehead. She will make only a handful of forays into the outside world, mostly during important festivals, when she is taken out in a procession.
The Kumari has all the comforts and luxuries that a ‘goddess’ can command, but what she does not have is a normal childhood. Once she attains puberty, or even if it is an accidental loss of blood due to injury, she loses her status as goddess and reverts to the life of an ordinary mortal. The search must start for a new Kumari. During her tenure in the god-house, Guthi Sansthan, the government trust fund bears her entire expenses including that of her caretakers. All the offerings made by devotees at the time of darshan also go to her and her family. On retirement, she is paid a handsome dowry.

The superstition that any young man who marries an ex-Kumari dies young has taken firm root in the Nepalese mindset and there are few young men who are willing to marry them. Superstitions apart, it is more likely that most young men think that having a 'spoilt'  goddess for a wife is likely to be hard work for them.

Last July, the Kumari of Bhaktapur created history of sorts when she sparked off a controversy by breaking tradition and travelled abroad. Her name is Sajani Shakya. The 11-year-old Sajani was dethroned and made to retire early when she travelled to the USA to promote a documentary made in 2007 by a London-based filmmaker Ishbel Whitaker on Nepal’s centuries old tradition of the living goddesses, in which Sajani was the protagonist. Sajani became a Kumari at the age of two. Sajani cried a lot when she was informed that she had to step down from her divine status. She now attends the Mount Valley School in Bhaktapur..

With the advent of the historic elections in Nepal putting the Maoists in command, it is curtains down for monarchy in Nepal. The question being asked is, is it curtains down for this centuries old tradition too? The Nepalese, both Buddhists and Hindus, are deeply religious people and it may not be easy for them to give up age old customs and traditions.