Sajani Shakya was selected as a "Kumari" - the reincarnation of a Hindu goddess - eight years ago, but religious authorities said that she would be stripped of her title after she visited the United States to promote a documentary. In an apparent u-turn Friday, the committee in charge of the living goddess said that it was reconsidering. "We have not yet removed her title. We are taking this issue very seriously and have begun consultations with cultural experts," said Jaya Prasad Regmi, the head of the committee. Three towns in the Kathmandu valley choose three separate girls to be worshiped as a living incarnation of the Hindu goddess Taleju, a practice dating back hundreds of years. The best-known of the living goddesses is the "Royal Kumari," who blesses Nepal's king once a year and is confined to a palace in the historic heart of old Kathmandu. The practice has been criticized by rights groups as the royal Kumari is forced to live apart from her family, and the government is trying to decide whether the tradition constitutes a human rights abuse. Cultural experts say that it needs to be reformed. "Times have changed and today's Kumaris should not be forced to follow the same traditions as it was 100 years ago," said Chunda Bajracharya, professor of culture at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan University. "But the way Shakya was taken to the US is totally wrong. It could affect the people's faith in Kumaris, who are believed to have divine status," said Bajracharya.
(News World Communications Inc. July 20, 2007)
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