by Claudia Viveiros
PureTravel Writing Competition 2024
She bled and the goddess abandoned her. Another body was taken away keeping the tradition unchangeable. In the Himalayan region, in a country called Nepal, there are girls with a divine status. People call them Kumaris which means virgins in Nepali. These minors are venerated by both Buddhists and Hindus. Devotees trust that their incarnate idols have healing abilities and the capacity to grant blessings, protection and prosperity. When the menarche arrives, the current Kumari immediately renounces her title. That was how, after a series of tests and at just five years old, Nihira Bajracharya ascended to the godly throne.
Nuno and I followed two introverted teenagers to the palace where the newly appointed Kumari began to reside with her respective family. A narrow wooden staircase, showing signs of corrosion, led us to spot an old man absorbed in his handcrafts. In the next room, as the sky took on darker tones, a living goddess was waiting for us. That dusty space, filled with scarlet fabrics, also seemed to be inhabited by specters and other mysterious deities.
Since she initiated her mandate, less than a week ago, Nihira’s parents started to dedicate themselves exclusively to her. In addition to the fact that their daughter had overcome trials of fear and presented the required attributes – such as the eyelashes of a cow, thighs of a deer and the clear voice of a duck – when proclaimed Kumari, the selected child will have to follow a vast set of rules. If the chosen Kumari does not comply with the decrees imposed on her, the goddess who possesses that tiny fig tree bodily contours will be able to kill her. Nihira’s father told me that when a previous Kumari did not behave properly, she ended up vomiting blood. Therefore, by believing in these divine punishments, all caution is required.
The divine girls must be carried on the lap when moving to festivities and other religious occasions. Consequently, given that Kumaris are not allowed to touch the ground outside their palace, they are not authorized to attend public school. As guardians of a tradition that easily can be contested, when they reach puberty, the state will be in charge of paying them a modest lifetime pension.
The transition from a Living Goddess to an Ordinary Mortal must be quite hard for someone who grew up in isolation during their childhood years. I can only imagine, for the retired divinities, how painful it can be to live in the same social status as those who once revered them. I also wonder about the feeling of stepping out onto the streets with their own feet.
Getting married to a superstitious man can be a difficult task having in mind that by tradition some people still assume that her husband will die prematurely. A prior Kumari, linked to Nihira by blood ties, went through this early loss. But other relatives, who became regular women, continue happily married and remain oblivious to this omen. In the past, some backward men used to believe that from the Ex-kumaris vaginas serpents would come out and devour them whenever they attempted any sexual approach. Often, human imagination can carve inexplicable steps.
A few days later, I met in Thamel a young brahmin who, owing to his elite caste and because of his conservative family members, must eat meat in secret. He assured me that marrying a former Kumari can be beneficial inside the Hindu social hierarchy. The caste system, which maintains social structure in Nepalese society, is quite complex and a true game of power.
– My daughter is the most powerful Kumari in the whole country – Mr. Niraj was proud and confident in his descendant’s supernatural powers. In fact, we might be facing a goddess and one of the most famous figures in the country, even so, during my blessing and despite being intimidated by some of her facial expressions, that deity didn’t have the personality I was expecting to find. I just felt like I was kneeling at a child’s feet. A child tired and bored with her new life.
– Inside our caste, the greatest purpose in life is to generate daughters with the aim of being selected as Kumaris. – That father was enjoying the privilege of being the progenitor of a rising goddess. As for his wife, her face remained sad, perhaps, by knowing that her daughter will not have the opportunity to experience a carefree growth. That girl’s childhood will be confined to the grooved walls of that rudimentary palace. Personal sacrifices in exchange for the highest honors.
With my red tika, as if by mistake the Kumari squeezed a gooseberry on my forehead, I left her chamber feeling that a great responsibility and a sacred duty would continue to shape the history of that place. It’s there, in that unique country called Nepal, that the goddesses materialize in our physical dimension.
Photo by Bijay Pakhrin on Unsplash
