What Happens to a Kumari When She Stops Being a Kumari?

From BBC News Online
18 June 2014 Last updated at 15:35 ET

Nepal's living goddess who still has to do homework

By Sonia Narang PRI's The World, Nepal

Samita Bajracharya is a 12-year-old Nepalese girl who lives with her family, studies hard, and enjoys playing a Nepali version of the lute. But until recently she was also worshipped by people who believed she was a reincarnated goddess.

 

Samita Bajracharya, when she was a Kumari.

 

Along a busy thoroughfare in Lalitpur, near Kathmandu, a passageway leads into a large, open-air courtyard. In the back corner, there's a modest home, with a red sign outside that simply reads, "Living Goddess".

A narrow wooden staircase leads up to the second floor, where the goddess spends much of her childhood. She's called a Kumari, which means "young, unmarried girl".

She's worshipped by both Hindus and Buddhists in Nepal, who believe she's a reincarnation of the Hindu goddess Durga.

I got to know the mother of this Kumari - Nepal has a few of them - after several visits to her house.

How did it feel when her daughter, Samita, was chosen to be a Kumari, I asked?

"I felt both happy and sad," she says. "On one hand, I felt happy because when your daughter becomes god, having a god in the home is a delightful thing. But I also got scared because I wasn't sure if we would be able to follow all the rules."

There are many rules. For one, Samita's mother has to apply special makeup to her daughter's face in intricate designs. The girl isn't allowed to go outside except for festivals. On those occasions, her feet must not touch the ground. That means someone has to carry the young goddess.

Furthermore, the Kumari is not permitted to speak to anyone besides her family and close friends.

The best way to find out what life is like for a child goddess is to talk to a former Kumari. I call Samita's predecessor, Chanira Bajracharya (no relation), and she agrees to an interview in her home.

Chanira Bajracharya in 2007, when she was about 12 years old.

We sit on the floor of the dark chamber where she spent a decade praying and blessing visitors.

I expect we'll do the interview in Nepali, but when I ask her a question, she starts speaking fluently in English. She tells me that she learned the language by reading newspapers during her Kumari days.

"When I was a goddess, I used to peek through the holes of windows," Chanira says.

She's now a 19-year-old business student, and looks like any ordinary teenager in her fashionable green T-shirt and black trousers. She became a Kumari when she was just five years old.

Chinese-Approved Kumari

Is she a real Kumari, or is she Memorex (Chinese-approved). How sad to see the demise of this ancient tradition replaced by a Beijing approved sideshow. From The Winnepeg Sun.com Living Goddess attends horse race festival Last Updated: 26th March 2009, 1:50pm Mateena Shakya, 4, locally known as Kumari, a Living Goddess, looks on as she is carried on a palanquin escorted by priests and devotees to attend the horse race festival in Katmandu, Nepal, Thursday, March 26, 2009. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS) 26th March 2009, 11:52am Living Goddess Kumari (R) is brought to witness performances during the "Ghodejatra" festival in Kathmandu March 26, 2009. The Nepal Army performed various horse related sports and races during the festival. (REUTERS) 26th March 2009, 11:52am

Maoists Approve New Kumari

Nepalese girl begins life as 'living goddess' 2 days ago KATHMANDU (AFP) — The three-year-old daughter of a Nepalese watch repairer became a "living goddess" on Tuesday after being approved by the country's new atheist government. Despite Nepal being a Maoist republic after the monarchy was unseated in May, the centuries-old tradition of worshipping a young virgin as the living embodiment of a powerful Hindu goddess has survived. "Matina Shakya was chosen after consultation with Buddhist priests, community leaders and officials who will look after her," said Achyut Pokharel, a member of the government-run trust that maintains the tradition. "She became Royal Kumari after a series of pujas (religious ceremonies) on Tuesday at the auspicious time of 11:39 am," Pokharel said, referring to the moment chosen by astrologers as the luckiest for the Kumari succession. Dozens of people in Kathmandu's medieval quarter joined in the procession as the young girl was carried by family members from her home to the ornate palace where she will be confined for several years. "It was very hard to make the decision to allow her to become the Kumari," her father Pratap Man Shrestha told AFP. "I am going to miss her terribly but it is a great privilege to have a Kumari for a daughter and we are helping maintain a unique, age-old part of our culture." Tradition dictates that the Kumari must only leave her new home for festivals a few times per year. Earlier this year, Nepal's Supreme Court ruled that Kumaris had the right to attend school but her family accepts that she will stay in the ancient palace in central Kathmandu. "She will be home schooled in the palace but we can go and meet her any time," said her father. Three-year-old Matina remained silent throughout the ten-minute procession to begin her life as a goddess and seemed unperturbed by the commotion, posing happily for pictures. Preeti Shakya, 12, the previous Royal Kumari, was in floods of tears as she was led out of the palace and back to her family by a band playing curved horns and banging drums. Her term ended because she was approaching menstruation, after which she would be ritually unclean. As she watched the new Kumari being taken to the palace, Aaste Shakya, a Norwegian married to a Nepalese man, said she respected the tradition but felt sorry for the girl. "She can't have a normal childhood. She won't have the same freedom, schooling and social activities as everyone else her age," said Shakya. "She is too young to really understand what is happening to her." The Kumari, which means virgin, must meet 32 strict criteria -- including having a "chest like a lion" and "thighs like a deer" -- as well as pass tests that include being in a room with dead sacrificed buffalo and not crying. Three towns in the Kathmandu valley follow the custom, but the Royal Kumari in the capital is considered the most powerful, and has the closest links to Nepal's deposed monarch. Former monarch Gyanenendra and his ancestors would seek annual blessings -- and tacit spiritual approval of their reign -- from the girl selected from the Buddhist Shakya caste. Today, Gyanenendra is a commoner living as a virtual recluse on the outskirts of Kathmandu, and the Nepalese president now receives blessings from the girl. Nepal became the world's newest republic after former rebel Maoists ended their civil war in 2006, and won landmark polls in April.

The Kumari - From the Other Side

From The Sunday Tribune of India Sunday, September 14, 2008 Hope for the goddess Nepal’s Kumaris, who are shunned and denied basic rights when they lose their ‘divine’ status, can now look forward to a better and normal future, thanks to a ruling by the country’s apex court, writes Sudeshna Sarkar WHEN Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, chief of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), the country’s former guerrilla party, was sworn in as the young Himalayan republic’s new prime minister, the event was hailed internationally as the climax to an amazing revolution that had ended the reign of the 239-year-old dynasty of the Shah kings, once regarded as incarnations of Vishnu. Along with that momentous event, Pundevi Maharjan (30) also quietly ushered in another revolution in a country that has been ruled by tradition and strong religious beliefs. The young lawyer has won a battle against Nepal’s famous Kumari tradition, setting in motion a change that will in future end the myth of virgin goddesses. "I come from the Shakya Bajracharya clan," Maharjan says. "They are Buddhists who were also the first inhabitants of the Kathmandu valley. Though Buddhists, it is the priests of this community who choose the Kumaris — Nepal’s living goddesses." After Mt Everest, the highest peak in the world, the Buddhist shrines of Swayambhunath and Boudhanath, and the Hindu temple of Pashupati, the Kumari is probably the best known image of Nepal. The young girl wearing a crown and with a third eye painted on her forehead, who gazes out impassively from an intricately carved wooden window, draws tens of thousands of tourists as well as devotees every year. Regarded as an incarnation of Taleju Bhawani, the goddess of power, as well as the protector of the royal family, the Kumari was believed to have divine powers. She is also the only living being before whom the kings of Nepal bowed in obeisance. Nepal boasts of 11 Kumaris, who are chosen by priests from the Bajracharya community on the basis of certain criteria. The chosen one’s horoscope has to be compatible with the reigning king’s and she has to be free from any physical blemishes. The Kumari also has to be a prepubescent girl who loses her divine status once she begins menstruation. She is then succeeded by a new Kumari. Once selected, the Kumari leaves her family to go and reside in the Kumari Ghar — the palace designated for her in Kathmandu — where she has her own retinue. She is not allowed to leave the palace on her own and she must not walk on the ground. The most important of the 11 Kumaris is taken out in a chariot and has a red carpet placed before her so that her feet don’t touch the ground. "When I was in college, I began to marvel at the Kumaris," says Maharjan, who had filed a public interest litigation in the Supreme Court three years ago, saying that the Kumaris’ rights as children had been grossly violated. Once they lost their divine status and had to leave the palace, most found it hard to assimilate. Some had no education and had to start school at the age of 11, when they were placed in the same class with five or six-year-olds. They were also the victims of superstitions, like the belief that if a man married a Kumari, he would die. But no one ever thought of the trauma a former Kumari undergoes. A glaring example of the restrictions the Kumaris suffered is, Maharjan says, the case of Sajani Shakya, who until recently was the Kumari of Bhaktapur town. In an unprecedented move, her priests sacked the nine-year-old after she went to the US to attend a documentary festival that also screened a film on the Kumaris, including herself. Sajani’s priests said she had lost her holiness by going abroad and eating "impure" food. After fighting the suit for two years, Maharjan got a shot in the arm when she joined the Forum for Women, Law and Development (FWLD), a leading NGO in Nepal that has been fighting for the abolition of anti-women laws and for protection of women. Nepal’s apex court recently ordered the government to protect the rights of the Kumaris. "Though the convention of child rights and interim constitution of Nepal have guaranteed minor girls the right to education and health, only some Kumaris enjoy these rights," judges Balaram K.C. and Top Bahadur Magar said. "There should be no bar on Kumaris going to school and enjoying health-related rights. They should not be treated as bonded labourers and there should be no restriction on their free movement." The judges have ordered the government to form a five-member committee from related ministries that would study the condition of the Kumaris and submit its report within a year. In addition, they have asked the Ministry for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to draw up a second committee to recommend schemes for providing former Kumaris with social security. Maharjan says she faced ostracism and harassment from her community when she filed the suit. She was accused of trying to humiliate her own people and of destroying a tradition that was the backbone of national culture. "I did not seek to have the Kumari tradition abolished," she says spiritedly. "I only want it to be modernised and freed from harmful practices. Instead of being treated like divine beings, the Kumaris should be seen as cultural icons that are unique to Nepal." Sapana Pradhan Malla, one of the founders of FWLD and currently a Member of Parliament (MP), who has been entrusted with the task of drafting a new constitution for Nepal, says the community should be asked to modernise the Kumari tradition. "There are other traditions related to women and religion that are harmful to women," she says. "Like Deuki (akin to India’s devdasi tradition in which a young girl is offered to a god and who finally ends up as a sex worker) and Jhuma (the tradition of a Buddhist family offering at least one girl child to become a nun without considering her wishes). While the Kumari is not like that, yet, it has to be viewed with different eyes." "Nepalis decided to abolish monarchy," says Janardan Sharma, one of the deputy commanders of the People’s Liberation Army, the Maoists’ guerrilla army, who is now a legislator. "We need to abolish all institutions associated with the crown. There is no need for Kumaris, Jhumas or Deukis." But the moderates in the party have decided to skirt the issue for now, fearing a public outcry. "The Kumari is not just associated with the king as his protective deity," says Dinanath Sharma, another Maoist lawmaker. "She is also a cultural symbol." — WFS

Maoists Move to Abolish Living Goddess Custom

What a bunch of party-poopers. What is wrong with maintaining an ancient religious tradition - oh, I forgot - these dudes are MAOISTS. They don't believe in anything except communist corruption. From the guardian.co.uk Randeep Ramesh, South Asia correspondent Thursday August 21 2008 Nepal: Goddess has right to go to school A centuries-old custom in Nepal of worshipping a virgin girl-child residing in a palace as a "living goddess" has been scrapped after it was branded outdated by the supreme court, which ruled that the "deity" must go to school. Religious authorities are searching for a new Kumari - chosen from a handful of three-year-olds - after it was revealed the current living goddess would retire later this year. Such a process looks likely to be scrapped, however, after the country's highest court accepted arguments that keeping a girl locked up in a medieval palace in the capital, Kathmandu, breached her fundamental rights. "There should be no bar on the Kumaris from going to school ... as there are no historical and religious documents restricting Kumaris from enjoying child rights," the supreme court said. Analysts said the ruling was in response to a new atmosphere in the Himalayan nation under former rebels, now ruling Maoists, who are determined to end feudal practices. Kumaris, which are revered until they menstruate, preside over key Hindu festivals in Nepal. The tradition was started in the 16th century by the Nepali monarchy, which believed the girl would protect them. Attributes are said to include a voice "as soft and clear as a duck's, the body of a Banyan tree and the chest of a lion". One of the first acts of the Maoist government was to scrap the 240-year-old monarchy. It was custom for Nepal's king to be blessed by the Kumari, whose horoscope had to match that of the monarch. Maoist MPs have described the institution as an "evil symbol", although some would say a Kumari's life is not too harsh: she can eat what she likes and act with impunity. Her parents are not allowed to tell her off.

Job Vacancy: Apply To Be a Kumari Today!

From the Independent (UK) Situation vacant: Girl, 3, wanted for role of living goddess. Must offer blessings By Andrew Buncombe, Asia Correspondent Thursday, 14 August 2008 Nepal's astrologers are reviewing horoscopes to find the replacement for the current goddess, who is 11. "If we don't change her now, we'll have to wait until next year which could be late," said Deepak Bahadur Pandey, a senior official at the state-run Trust Corporation that oversees cultural affairs in the politically turbulent Himalayan nation. "If the girl starts menstruating while serving as kumari, it is considered inauspicious." For hundreds of years, living goddesses have been held sacred in Nepal and their blessings have been sought by officials and others seeking good fortune. Many campaigners believe the practice is outdated and harmful to the young girls, who must be willing to give up a normal childhood, live a cloistered life and offer occasional blessings. The contract is terminated when they reach puberty. There are more than a dozen kumari in Nepal, but it is the Kathmandu or chief Kumari that is the most important goddess. The abolition of the 240-year-old monarchy earlier this year and the declaration of Nepal as a republic has complicated the selection process this time. Traditionally, Nepal's king received the Kumari's annual blessing and astrologers would look for a child whose horoscope matched that of the monarch. Now officials have to find someone else to fill the king's shoes. Chunda Bajracharya, a professor of cultural studies at Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu, said the republican status of Nepal was no excuse to drop centuries-old traditions. "We cannot end these traditions just because there is no king." For the Kathmandu Kumari, cut off from the outside world, carried everywhere and not allowed outside her temple, life is not easy. Yet many families still put forward their daughters for the role, both for the supposed honour and for the modest compensation given to the family. In recent years campaigners have pointed out the detrimental effects of the tradition and former kumaris have told of their difficulty in adjusting to normal life once their contracts have been terminated. Three years ago, Pundevi Maharjan, a human rights lawyer in Kathmandu, filed a lawsuit claiming the children's rights were being abused and demanding reform. "I said exploitation and discrimination has been going on. This should be eliminated," she said last year. "We don't want to end the tradition but we have to change for the protection of the culture." But Mr Pandey said the secret selection process was already well under way for a new kumari. The girl must have perfect eyes, teeth, hair and not even the smallest scratch on her skin. Nepal held elections in April and former rebel Maoists are now poised to form the country's new government. Having campaigned stridently against the discrimination of the Nepalese Hindu caste system and for the establishment of a republic, it is unclear whether they will allow the kumari tradition to continue. Another person already out of a job is the former royal priest, Madhab Bhattarai. Perhaps not surprisingly, he regrets the abolition of the increasingly unpopular monarchy. "For centuries Nepal has remained socially harmonious, despite being a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-faith country," he said. "It was the king who was a central point of unity."

Nepal's Living Goddess in Limbo

BBC News By Charles Haviland BBC News, Kathmandu Friday, June 6, 2008 The appointment of a new "living goddess" in Nepal is being held up by the recent abolition of the monarchy, a Nepalese official says. According to tradition, the king's priest appoints the girl, who is chosen in her infancy and is treated as a goddess, or Kumari, until puberty. But the priest no longer has any say in the republic, the head of the trust overseeing the tradition says. Hindus and Buddhists regard the Kumaris as incarnations of a deity. 'Unthinkable' Shreeya Bajracharya, 6, has been selected by a religious panel as the "living goddess" in the town of Bhaktapur, near the capital Kathmandu. She was chosen to replace the previous goddess who retired early in March. Under the ancient tradition, she has to have certain physical attributes and undergo special tests to be selected. But the head of the trust overseeing the Kumari tradition told the BBC that because Nepal is now a republic that priest no longer has any role in the matter. He said the chairman of the trust's board would have to decide soon who would approve the new living goddess. This quandary is just one of many set to arise now that the politicians have abolished the monarchy without thinking through the religious or political implications. It is unthinkable that this deeply religious country would scrap the rich series of traditions and festivals which pepper the people's lives and are also a magnet for tourists. Yet many traditions are associated with the king and may face adjustments in future. Nepal is now supposed to be a secular state but for the past two years the elderly Prime Minister, Girija Prasad Koirala, has been trying to take on the king's religious roles with a stream of temple visits. A few months ago the prime minister was said to be angered when the royal priest refused to give a blessing. The biggest elected party, the Maoists, are fiercely non-religious. However, the party's deputy leader was blessed by a priest at the start of his election campaign.

The Kumari

From The Times of India JUGULAR VEIN Divine rites 6 Jan 2008, 0000 hrs IST,Jug Suraiya Modi’s victory and Benazir’s assassination obscured perhaps an even more historic event in the neighbourhood: the ending of Nepal’s 250-year-old Shah dynasty. The constitutional change turning the mountain kingdom into a republic has been made and now only requires ratification by the new parliament. Few will shed tears for Gyanendra, who ascended the throne in dubious circumstances after the 2001 royal massacre and whose criminally inept handling of the Maoist insurgency in Nepal pushed the country to the brink of chaos. Gyanendra’s unpopularity was compounded by that of his loutish son, crown prince Paras, whose idea of an evening’s entertainment was to beat up innocent citizens with the help of his goons. The constitutional boot to royalty came just a couple of days before Paras’s 36th birthday, an apt nativity present. Serves the yob right. Well-wishers of Nepal can now only hope that that long-embattled, desperately poor country will finally get the democracy it deserves. As both a staunch republican and a long-time friend of Nepal, I had ambivalent feelings about the monarchy even before the egregious Gyanendra came to the throne. Did kings - even constitutional kings like Gyanendra’s murdered predecessor, Birendra - really have a place in the 21st century? But Nepal’s monarchy had a divine dimension beyond the day-to-day devices of democracy: the Hindu kingdom’s ruler was traditionally venerated as the ‘living Vishnu’, preserver of the country and its people. During Dussehra, long lines of devotees, many from the remote reaches of the land, would form outside the Narayanhity Royal Palace in Kathmandu to receive the tika from their god-king. I’d seen the worship in their eyes, glowing with the unwavering flame of faith. Faced with such belief, my republicanism felt like an interloper, a gatecrasher at a devout gathering. The news of the palace killings came as a bolt from the black, literally. It was 2 a.m. when the phone call from Dubby, my friend in Kathmandu, woke me. Could I somehow get the news into the following morning’s papers? Impossible. Well, at least you’re the first journalist in India to know what’s happened, said Dubby, a bitter knowledge that brought no solace. That night was the beginning of the slippery slope that would eventually lead to the downfall of the monarchy. I do not know how, if at all, the toppling of Nepal’s throne will affect another divine tradition of that country: the institution of the Kumari, the living goddess who complemented the god-king, on whom she would bestow her blessings once every year, ensuring his rule for another 12 months. Actually there’s not one, but three living goddesses; one in Kathmandu, and one each in Bhaktapur and Patan. But for all touristy purposes the Kathmandu Kumari represents the sacred sorority. The Kumaris - selected from the caste of silversmiths after having passed a series of spiritual tests (including the terrifying one of spending a night alone in a dark room with the severed head of a buffalo) - are anointed in early childhood and demit their divine office at the first sign of puberty. Earlier, it was believed that whoever married a former Kumari would die before the year was out, a cruel superstition which forced many ex-goddesses into prostitution. Thankfully, that taboo has been exorcised, and Kumaris can now safely make the transition to everyday housewives. But the Kumari remains a poignant parable of goddess, interrupted. I remember years ago going to see the then Kumari in Kathmandu. The living goddess, draped in gilded robes, sat on her throne, her heavily made-up face an ageless and inscrutable mask. In the dim light I saw that in one, tiny hand was a small, plastic toy helicopter, symbol of a lost childhood. With the monarch gone, will the living goddess be even more isolate in her sacrificial divinity? *********************************************************************************** It was believed that whoever married a former Kumari would die before the year was out... This belief seems to be right in line with ancient myths in the West about the "king" being sacrificed after six months or a year's blissful marriage to the sacred priestess. In some legends, the king would be torn to bits by frenzied female acolytes in a sacred grove, his heart pulled out and offered up for sacrifice on a sacred stone (altar) in the middle of the grove. In the Celtic tradition, I recall reading that in some instances the deceased "king's" head was preserved (I do not know in what manner) and used as an oracle by local elders - giving new meaning to Shakespeare's hommage in Hamlet "Alas, poor Yorick..."

The Goddess and the King

In a country that, yes, in the 21st century, where many still believe in the powers of the Goddess, these are critical times, indeed. Photo: The Royal Kumari is wheeled through the capital on a chariot

From BBC News

The goddess and the king
By Olenka Frenkiel Reporter, This World

Last Updated: Monday, 5 November 2007, 16:36 GMT

In Nepal a nine-year-old girl who is worshipped as a goddess is playing a significant symbolic role in the power struggle between politicians and the monarchy.

The nine-year-old Royal Kumari is worshipped as a goddess by the people of Kathmandu. For 240 years since they conquered and united the country of Nepal, the Kings of the Shah dynasty have sought her blessing to rule.

Each year, the king - himself traditionally worshipped as a God - has gone to her temple to be blessed with the tika, a red symbol on the forehead giving him another year as head of State.

But this year there was doubt about whether the King would attend the ceremony.

Political vacuum
Nepal's constitution is in limbo and one of the poorest countries in Asia is stuck in a political vacuum.

King Gyanendra is still king but has been stripped of his power. His palaces have been nationalised. He has become a king with no kingdom.

Now after 15 years of civil war Nepal's politicians are trying to steer the country to elections and then, almost certainly, a Republic. But elections have twice been postponed.

This king took power in 2001 after the Royal massacre in which most of Nepal's Royal family were killed. His unpopularity deepened when he staged a military coup in a bid to crush the Maoist uprising. He failed and had to back down.

This year, for the first time, the king was asked to stay away from the Royal Kumari. Nobody knew whether the goddess would bless his rule - or whether the king would brave the crowds.

Some hoped 2007 would be the year he stayed away, which could be interpreted as a symbolic abdication.

Revered goddess
The Royal Kumari is revered by both Hindus and Buddhists who believe that she blesses the people of Nepal with peace and prosperity. She is chosen by a committee of priests and advisors. She must be physically perfect, unmarked and her horoscope must match the king's.

Today's Kumari - whose real name is Preeti Shakya - was chosen five years ago when she was four years old. She was taken to the Kumari Temple where she will be worshipped as a goddess until puberty.

For her mother Reena Shakya, it was a wrench to let her go.

"At first I didn't want her to be the Kumari. I'd be sad without her. So I hid her upstairs, but they insisted and took her and said you shouldn't talk like that.

"They told us her horoscope matched exactly so we couldn't say no. My mother-in-law said something bad might happen if we didn't let her go. And it was good for the family name - so although we were sad, we let her go."

Her 12-year-old sister, Priya - an ordinary schoolgirl - is looking forward to her sister's return, once she's no longer a goddess.

"I used to cry. I miss her so much," she says. "If she was with me at home it would be so much fun. We would play together."

Preeti the goddess cannot leave her temple, except at festivals. But Priya is free to dawdle after school, buy an ice cream, chat with friends. She says despite the biscuits and chocolates worshippers bring, she would not want to be the Royal Kumari.

"I would not like to be separated from my parents. And I wouldn't have any friends in school. I can go to school and I can go outside as well."

'Abuse of rights'
Sapana Malla is a human rights lawyer and according to a Nepalese magazine, "the most influential woman in Nepal". She believes the role of Kumari is an abuse of the rights of the child and with other activists, has taken a case to the Supreme Court.

"The key deprivation is she cannot live with her mother or father - she must live in a temple without them. As a child you have a right to grow up in your own community with your own family. As a Kumari you cannot. You cannot play with your friends because you are a goddess."

She believes Nepal is modernising and it is time to abolish or at least reform state sponsored gods and goddesses.

"How many people now really believe that Kumari is really a goddess? They just follow it because it's a practice," she says.

Sapana did not believe the king would go to the Kumari's blessing this year: "The king used to go as head of the Hindu kingdom. But in all these religious ceremonies now it's the Prime Minister who goes."

She is hoping Nepal will become a secular Republic.

Avoiding taking sides
But Nepal continues to wait. Elections have again been postponed after the former Maoist revolutionaries pulled out of the country's interim coalition.

Sagar, of the Maoist Communist League, shows me a poster of his heroes - Engels, Marx Lenin, Stalin Mao and the Maoists' leader Prachanda. "Great leaders," he says proudly.

Maoist supporters are bussed into Kathmandu in daily shows of strength. But they, like the king, made enemies. During the war years they raped, tortured and murdered.

Many suspect the election boycott stemmed from fear. A bad election result would reduce their influence and ability to shape the future of Nepal, and in a worse-case scenario even threaten the peace process.

The Maoists want a Republic declared immediately. "We hate the Monarchy," says Sagar.

He sees the Kumari as an expensive distraction from the real task of building a new Nepal.

"Besides," he says, "she belongs to a narrow religious tradition of just one small ethnic group. Nepal has many."

Nepal may be changing, but the Kumari's blessing to rule is still an important symbol and on the appointed day vast crowds gathered to see who would come for the tika.

A convoy arrived in the darkness. It was the Prime Minister. He entered her temple and emerged with the tika on his brow. For the first time ever.

As the crowd thinned people asked whether it was the birth of Nepal's republic - and the fall of the House of Shah.

Then another car arrived. It was the king. Unofficial and unannounced. He too entered and emerged, blessed. The crowds cheered.

So the Monarchy is not quite dead. But the Republic is not yet born.

The Royal Kumari has deftly avoided taking sides. And Nepal's stalemate continues. **********************************************************************************
We've seen over and over again throughout history (herstory) that spitting on the rituals and rites of the past leads people backward, not forward. The way to proceed is how the ancient Egyptians did it: integrate the best of the past into the present, and create a new synthesis. Come on, people, if they could do it 5000 years ago, we should be able to do it now. If we cannot, then we truly deserve all of the curses that the Goddess will rain down upon us.