Nepal is not only known through out the world for its scenic beauties, wide and grand range of himalayays, tallest figure Mt. Everest and birth place of Buddha and a countries of temple and richness of handicraft but also for its living Goddess , Kumari. Really, it is difficult for a foreigner to believe but it it true that in Nepal Kumari is worshipped as a goddess. Kumari is a young girl accepted as a goddess who lives in Kumari Ghar , besides Darbar Square. This trend of worshiping the pre-pubescent girl as a form of goddess, supreme source had started from time immemorial and it is still working in every household especially throughout Kathmandu Valley. And it is an integral part of Hinduism and Buddhism that she is worshiped on all religious occasions.
This tradition was especially established by the Vajravana sect of Mahayana Buddhism that declared that Kumari Goddess must be from Sakya community of Newar tribe. Thus this cult and custom is more practiced in Newari Community inside the Kathmandu Valley as She has become the inevitable part of their (Newars’) worship almost in every Vihar and Bahal.
The process of selection of Kumari Goddess is quite a traditional one i.e. tantric ritual. The girls who are chosen from 4 to 7 years from Sakya Community must pass all the tests to be declared as a living goddess. Those chosen girls must be a living idioms of all 32 perfections including colour of eyes, shape and colour of teeth, type of hair and the sound of her voice. Then those chosen girls have to face a quite difficult and terrifying test that they must be calm and collected in facing the terrible and scaring scenes in the darkened rooms amid demon like masked-dancers and scattered buffalo heads. The one who appear calm and tolerate all those horrible scenes will be declared as living goddess because it is believed that the real goddess is unlikely to be terrified with all those horrible activities. Then the girl entitled as Kumari Goddess will be decorated with the cloths of her predecessor.
Then the goddess Kumari starts her life as a living goddess in the Kumari Ghar which is a store house of magnificent intricate carvings perfoming her daily rituals. Her all expenses during her stay in the Kumari Ghar is beared by Guthis Sansthan, the Government trust fund body. Under normal circumstances the period of the girl of staying in that Kumari Ghar comes to an end with her first menstruation and the search for new Kumari again begins. But the days of a kumara may come to an end if a minor scratch caused bleeding. In such cases she is regarded as invalid and unlucky and again the search begins for new one. But the sorry thing is that it is said to be unlucky to marry an ex-Kumari though she was once worshiped and accepted as a living goddess.
On the auspicious days of Indra Jatra, which falls in September, the day is not fixed as it is set according to lunar calander, the living Goddess travels through the older part of Kathmandu along with Ganesh and Bhairab in decorated chariot on each day for three days of Indra Jatra. In these days thousands of people from and around the capital city come to pay their homage to the living goddess and receive blessing. During monarchy system, the entire Royal family used to come to the Darbar Square to receive blessing from the Kumari. And the tradition is still there even during republican government system that in place of Royal family, seniors from the Government come to receive blessing.
0 comments:
Post a Comment