NEPAL'S NEW : 3-YEAR OLD LIVING GODDESS

By: Zainab


A THREE YEAR old girl gas been named the new Kumari of Nepal's capital Kathmandu after her predecessor retired when she reached puberty-

Continuing an ancient tradition that sees  young girls  worshipped as ''living goddesses.''

Trisha Shakya will be anointed as the new Kumari in a ceremony on Thursday last, when she will be taken from her family home to live in a palace in Kathmandu's ancient Durbar Square where she will be cared for by specially appointed caretakers.

She   was selected from among four candidates, Uddhav Man Karamacharya. a Hindu priest who attends to the Kumari.

''She will take her place on the  Kumari's  throne, after we perform prayers and tantric rituals,'' Karmacharya said.

Once she is anointed a living godess, Shakya  -who, like her predecessors, belongs to the  Newar community  indigenous to the Kathmandu valley  -will  only be allowed to leave her  new home  13 times a year on special feast days.