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Stephanie Sinclair

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  • A young Nepalese girl dressed as a living goddess receives gifts during a mass worship on Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square in Kathmandu.
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  • Smriti Bajrcharya, 7, the Kumari of Bungmati, sits on her throne during one of the many auspicious days when she is worshiped. However, four days after the devastating earthquake in April, she lost one of her upper teeth while playing with friends, resulting in her immediate termination as kumari. It’s believed that the spirit of the goddess, the shakti, that enters the girl’s body when she becomes a kumari, will leave her if she loses any blood. While some in the community fear her tooth loss means bad luck, her family believes the earthquake forced the goddess to leave her body.
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  • Kumari Dangol, 9, must wear red—the school tie being her only nod to convention. In other respects, she’s like any other schoolchild, except that her teachers and fellow pupils address her as Dya Maiju—Little Girl Goddess.
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  • In the family living room, Unika plays with her younger brother as her parents debate whether to offer her for selection as a kumari. The incumbent girl had just been dismissed because she got her first period.
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  • Seven retired Royal Kumaris are honored inside Kathmandu Durbar Square in the morning of the final day of Kumāri Jātrā, where the Royal Kumari is taken around the city in a chariot procession among thousands of the country's Hindus and Nepali Buddhists. The word Kumari literally means “virgin” in Nepali. These living goddesses are young, pre-pubescent girls who are considered to be incarnations of the Hindu goddess of power, Kali.  <br />
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Contract for story is Kashinath Tamot, kashinath.tamot@nepalmandal.org and Sangeeta Lama, sangeetala@gmail.com .
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  • The current Royal Kumari Matina Shakya, 9, is taken out as part of the annual Seto Machindranath Chariot Festival. These living goddesses are young, pre-pubescent girls who are considered to be incarnations of the Hindu goddess of power, Kali.
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  • Parents present at Kumari Puja said the function was the beginning of community life of their daughters. Despite being a Newari festival, girls from other castes also attended the ceremony. The word kumari literally means “virgin” in Nepali.
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  • Young Nepalese girls dressed as kumaris – or living goddesses – participate in Kumari Puja, an event where hundreds of girls come to be worshiped at a single ceremony. Participation is believed to help protect them from evil and give them good luck for years to come.
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  • Young Nepalese girls dressed as kumaris – or living goddesses – participate in Kumari Puja, an event where hundreds of girls come to be worshiped at a single ceremony. Participation is believed to help protect them from evil and give them good luck for years to come.
    MM8303_140422_04331_RT.tif
  • Unika Vajracharya, 6, is adorned with her ritual jewelry for the first time. In Nepal, prepubescent Newari girls known as kumaris are worshipped as deities, endowed with foreknowledge, able to cure the sick, fulfill wishes, and bestow blessings for protection and prosperity.
    MM8303_140422_02763_RT.tif
  • Local priests asked qualified families to put forth their daughters for selection as the next Patan Kumari. Ultimately, only two girls were put forth out of eight were approached. Many of the families chose not to allow their daughters to go through the official selection process due to the personal and financial burdens that come with the tradition.
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