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July 3, 2007
Living Goddess Fired for Traveling to US
Shocking news out of Nepal today - Sajani Shakya, the Kumari of Bhaktapur, has actually been fired for visiting the United States.
As you may recall, I blogged about Sajani's visit a couple of weeks ago when she was in Silver Spring, Maryland for the Silverdocs festival. Kumaris are young Buddhist girls from Nepal who are selected at a young age to serve as "living goddesses" until they reach puberty. They participate in Hindu rituals - there's a lot of overlap between the two religions in Nepal - and are revered by the local population. Some Kumaris live very cloistered lives, but Sajani was allowed to live with her parents and go to school. So when she had the chance to visit the United States, she took it. And now she's actually lost her job because of it.
"We have already begun looking for a new girl to replace the current Kumari," said Jaya Prasad Regmi, head of the committee that selects the Bhaktapur Kumari. "Our tradition does not allow the living goddess to travel to other countries.... Her father has said that it was a mistake as they did not get permission from concerned authorities to take her abroad."
Sajani is still traveling abroad; I can only imagine how she's taking the news. When she was in the DC area, she even talked about how upset she'll be when she's no longer Kumari. I can only imagine she never dreamed it would be this soon. -andy
Tags: Buddhism | employment | goddess | Hinduism | Kumari | Nepal | Sajani Shakya
Posted by acarvin at July 3, 2007 9:44 AM
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