Kumari, "The Living Goddess," to Visit Film Festival

Controversial Nepal goddess to now launch film fest Posted : Sun, 07 Oct 2007 09:14:09 GMT Author : Sudeshna Sarkar Kathmandu, Oct 7 - Three months ago, one of Nepal's 'living goddesses' created a stir by leaving her temple to visit the US and was sacked for the untraditional act. Now 10-year-old Sajani Shakya, better known as the 'Kumari' of Bhaktapur, will depart from tradition once again. The Kumari will be the special guest - not at any religious ceremony but a film festival. And the superstitious can regard it as an omen. On Thursday, when the fate of King Gyanendra is going to be decided in parliament, the royal dynasty's protective deity, the Kumari, will be trooping to a cinema in the capital - coincidentally named after her - to promote a British filmmaker's documentary on her and two more goddesses. The schoolgirl will be the special guest at the sixth Film South Asia, a documentary film festival where 45 entries will be vying for the Ram Bahadur Trophy, which carries a purse of $2,000, as well as a $1,000 best debut award for newcomers. Ishbel Whitaker's 'Living Goddess', the film that landed Sajani in trouble with her temple authorities, will be the first entry at the fest organised by Nepali NGO Himal Association. In July, Whitaker invited Sajani to the US to promote the documentary and the visit, unchaperoned by any members of her family, roused the wrath of the schoolgirl's temple management committee. The committee said the visit had violated Nepal's religious norms and polluted the young girl. It also said she had been sacked and a search was on to look for her successor. However, following an intense media glare, the authorities later changed their minds and the young girl was reinstated as the 'living goddess' when she returned home. When the festival organisers decided to invite the controversial Kumari, they hadn't foreseen the swift developments that would overtake Nepal since then. On Friday, arm-twisted by the Maoists, Nepal's government decided to postpone a critical election scheduled for Nov 22 and called a special session of parliament to vote on King Gyanendra's fate. The special session starts Thursday, when Kumari is to attend the screening of 'Living Goddess' at the Kumari cinema. The recent days have been full of the Kumari and the king in Nepal. (c) Indo-Asian News Service Prior posts about The Living Goddess here and here.