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Nepal Religion |
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Hinduism
and Buddhism constitutes two major religion of Nepal sharing between
them some 87% and 8% of the total population. Both these co-religionists
are bound together by a sense of fellow feeling and bonhomie particularly
displayed in their worship of common deities and joint celebration of many
festivals belonging to either religion culture. Kumari , the Virgin Hindu
Goddess, for instance, is selected from a Buddhist clan. The Moslems form the third largest religion group with 3.5 percent.
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Kumari
- the living Goddess
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Kumari - the living Goddess
Every
tourist in Kathmandu hopes to have a glimpse of her when she appears for
a short moment in a window of the palace of Kumaru Bahal, where she lives.
She's a beautiful little girl with black hair and dark eyes. She's
the innocence of a child, but at the same time the sensuality of
a woman with red painted lips and a Mona Lisa like smile. In her forehead
she wears a large tika, which is more than a decoration. It symbolizes
a third eye, with which she can see other dimensions.
The
process of finding a Kumari is complicated. Little girls from a certain
cast are being selected. Great demands are made to the girl. She must have
the body of the Banyan tree, legs like a deer, neck like a conch and eyebrows
like the cow. |
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She
must never have lost a drop of blood. Before she is accepted she has to
go through some awful situations, to test her nerves and courage. Kumari
lives an isolated life in luxury. Her feet must not touch the ground, and
the 4 or 5 times she appears outside the palace she is carried in a covered
palanquin. The day when she has her first period, she must leave the palace
and go back to her poor family, which is difficult after having lived in
luxury. It's not easy to find a husband for her. Men are usually afraid
of her, since she's been a goddess. The rumour says that a man who marries
a Kumari will die young.
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