Sajani Shakya - Child Goddess - Retired

Sajani Shakya, 11, was until recently a Kumari - A Child Goddess. Even though she is a Buddhist, she was considered to be the manifestation of the Hindu goddess Kali. It is an ancient traditional blending of the two religions, unique to Nepal.

Kumari are chosen between the ages of 2 and 4 from an elite Buddhist caste, the Shakya, of the Newa people. They have to fulfill exactly 32 perfections, none of them easily ascertained. Among them:

Perfect skin, the gait "of a swan," a body shaped like a banyan tree, thighs like a deer, cheeks like a lion, not afraid of the dark, and a neck like a conch shell.

"It's a very ancient tradition. Its roots go back to almost the dawn of time," Ishbel Whitaker, the director of the film "Living Goddess," told ABC News. "It's a tradition where young girls are revered and in many ways this enhances the status of girls within the culture." The goddess Kali is believed to leave the girls' bodies as they reach puberty. For more on the history of Sajani Shakya - Child Goddess click this link.

However, in this case, the 11-year-old Sajani Shakya retired early, not yet having reached puberty. Her family wanted her to take part in another religious ritual: a "marriage" to a Bael, a fruit-bearing tree indigenous to that part of Asia.

Bael (Aegle marmelos) is a fruit-bearing tree indigenous to dry forests on hills and plains of central and southern India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. The tree, which is the only species in the genus Aegle, grows up to 18 meters tall and bears thorns and fragrant flowers. It has a woody-skinned, smooth fruit 5-15 cm in diameter. The skin of some forms of the fruit is so hard it must be cracked open with a hammer. It has numerous seeds, which are densely covered with fibrous hairs and are embedded in a thick, gluey, aromatic pulp. The fruit is eaten fresh or dried. The fruit is also used in religious rituals and as a ayurvedic remedy for such ailments as diarrhea, dysentery, intestinal parasites, dryness of the eyes, and the common cold. It is a very powerful antidote for chronic constipation. In Hinduism, the Lord Shiva is said to live under the Bael tree. In the traditional culture of Nepal, the Bael tree is part of an important fertility ritual for girls known as the Bel baha.

Nhuchhe Shakya, Sajani's father, who also works for the committee in charge of finding a replacement for his daughter, said: "In Bhaktapur, we have a tradition to get our girls married to a Bael (Aegle marmelos), a fruit dedicated to Lord Shiva, around the age of 10 or 11". This ritual ensures that the girl becomes and remains fertile. It is believed that if the girl's husband dies later in her life, she is not considered a widow because she is married to Shiva.

Dipak Pandey, a senior official of the state-run Trust Corporation that oversees Nepal’s cultural affairs, confirmed that Shakya had relinquished her position because her family wanted to perform their own religious ritual, a traditional symbolic wedding, that would require her to give up her divine status.

"We have started the process to find a new Kumari for Bhaktapur," Jaya Prasad Regmi, the head of the committee which manages the centuries-old Hindu tradition, said. "We are holding meetings with locals and people from (the) Shakya cast."

"She knew that she was not going to remain a Kumari all her life, so she is mentally prepared. I think she will handle it well." Nhuchhe Shakya says.

Now that Sajani Shakya is no longer a Kumari, a position she had held for almost 9 years of her short life, what is next?..... She recently took an entrance exam to enter into a prestigious middle school. She will, once again, be a mortal among girls and boys her age.

"Her mother prepared her that she couldn't live in this world of worship," film director Whitaker notes. "Her mother stressed the importance of education. It's good to study at school and become something in adult life too. Her family have been great and have made her understand that at one point, all of this will end, and she has to function as a normal child."

Dalai Lama in Video

Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, by an act of Congress with the active participation of President Bush received America's highest civilian honor - The Congressional Gold Medal - on Oct.17 2007. The following is a video presentation with selected speakers (George Bush, Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, and the Dalai Lama himself) of this event.

President George Bush

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPdszUgzUiM]

Elie Wiesel

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7LnA3yDsMs]

Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama Pt 1

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcXmB0U_DCQ]

Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama Pt 2

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7b94wfvrXE]

Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama Pt 3

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imv7Fa5ZqhY]

The Benediction

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMR8pxxdKKc]

Sajani Shakya - Child Goddess - Reinstated!

Sajani Shakya, one of the three most revered Kumaris, has been given a second chance. In what appears to be a change of heart by the religious leaders in her home town of Baktapur, they made the decision not to dethrone her. She will continue to be a Kumari until she reaches puberty.

Sajani Shayka was on a 39-day tour with the makers of a film about the Kumaris of Nepal when the religious leaders in her home town decided to strip her of her status. They thought that the visit had tainted her purity and violated the strict rules under which the Kumari must live. After personal pleas from film director Ishbel Whitaker, who apologized for any controversy they may have caused and attempted to point out how the visit to the US did much to foster positive cultural exchanges, the leaders relented. Sajani will however have to undergo a "cleansing process" to ensure her purity before resuming her duties.

"She is a normal child and a living goddess. She has both lives," film director Ishbel Whitaker told the Reuters news agency. "It was a lovely opportunity for her," said Ms Whitaker. "It was a great experience when American children told Sajani about their lives and she told them about her life."

In an interview Sajani seemed oblivious to the controversy surrounding her:

"I want to become a photographer," said the shy Sajani Shakya as she jumped from the couch and grabbed an envelope with photographs of her recent visit to the US. She showed off pictures of the White House where she was given a special tour. She lives a normal life with her parents: mother Rukumani, and father Nuchhe Ratna Shakya in a two-story brick-and-wood house in the old quarter of Bhaktapur, near Kathmandu.

“I have been fortunate to have her selected as the Kumari,” her 43-year-old father Nuchhe Ratna Shakya said, “It has brought good fortune and luck to the family. We feel great about her,” adding he managed to get a job in a biscuit factory after his daughter was selected.

“She lives like a normal child with us except for two weeks during Dasain,” said Sajani’s mother Rukumani, referring to the biggest Hindu festival which is normally celebrated in October. “She likes to eat instant noodles and biscuits and loves playing with toys and dolls.” At home she plays badminton with her siblings in the courtyard in front of her house.

Teachers at the Mount Valley Secondary School where Sajani is a grade four student said the "goddess" was an average student. "She never picks any quarrel with other children. She is shy but is not particularly brilliant," science teacher Ratna Mallik said.

Learn more about Sajani's visit to the US and the decision to fire her

PS: Check the latest.......Sajani has retired !!

Sajani Shakya - Child Goddess - Fired!

Sajani Shakya the 9 year old child goddess from Nepal has lost her job and her divinity. She is no longer a Kumari or virgin deity. She will no longer be worshipped as a living goddess. She has lost the position in Nepalese society that she has held since she was 2 years old.

It is ironic that the very thing that introduced her to the Western World and created a huge interest in the religious practices in Nepal was the very thing that caused her downfall.........her visit to the US.

Sajani Shakya had her status revoked because she broke with tradition by leaving the country, the state-run National News Agency reported, quoting Narendra Prasad Joshi, chief of the Bhaktapur Taleju Temple where Sajani is based. She is among several "Kumaris," or living goddesses, in Nepal, but as one of the kingdom's top three, is forbidden from leaving the country.

Temple officials intend to replace her when she returns to Nepal. Sajani Shakya was installed at the age of two as the Kumari of the ancient town of Bhaktapur, near the capital Kathmandu, where she was revered by Hindus and Buddhists alike in deeply religious Nepal. But her recent trip to the US has upset local religious leaders.

"This is impure in our tradition. We will search for a new Kumari and install her as the living goddess. We are discussing whether or not to pay Sajani monthly pension."

The Kumari, or virgin deity, is a Hindu cult practised in Nepal, and represents the reincarnation of Dea Taleju Bhawani, also known in India as Durga. The Kumari are chosen among the Buddhist children of the Newar Shakya caste, resident in Kathmandu for at least three generations; the cast is the same one to which Buddha belonged. Even if chosen among Buddhists they are equally venerated by Hindus. During her annual feast, Kumari Jiatra, she is permitted to go out in public in a covered carriage.

After reaching puberty each Kumari is retired, given a pension, which in the case of Sajani Shakya would amount to about $50 a month and sent back to their families to lead a normal life.

However life after being a Kumari can be very difficult as related by a former Kumari. Rashmila Shakya, born in Kwahiti, was a Kumari from 1984 to 1991. She is now 24 years old and is about to graduate in Computer Technology. At the age of 4 she was taken from her family to become a Kumari and was confined within a Kumari Ghar (the temple dedicated to the living deities). Here is how some see the Kumari:

They are born mortal humans, members of the lower castes, but are then elevated to the realms of the living deities; forced to live in isolation from early childhood, without friends and deprived of an education, on their first menstruation or sign of illness they return human once more, have to drastically adapt themselves to the difficulties of everyday life. They are the Kumari, Hinduism’s living deities, who are now beginning to rebel against the “inhuman superstitions” who in Nepal, are forced to live a lonely single life, deprived of affection in the belief that anyone who marries them will die within a few months.

“There was no formal education system then. An old tutor used to come everyday to teach me for an hour. But that wasn't sufficient in any way” says Rashmila.

Rashmila only began formal education at the age of 12, when she was substituted with a new Kumari. Now she is reclaiming her right to a normal life and promises to challenge the “inhuman superstition” which would have her remain single for the rest of her life. It is believed that any man who marries a former Kumari is condemned to die within six months, coughing blood.

In what seems to be a changing of attitudes towards the Kumari, last November Nepal's Supreme Court ordered an inquiry into whether the Kumari tradition has led to the exploitation of girls. It ordered the government to submit a detailed report on whether the Kumari tradition violated the children's human rights. Officials say the study is underway.

So maybe we should not feel sorry for Sajani Shakya. Having her status as a Kumari revoked may just have been the best thing for a very pretty young girl who has her whole life ahead of her.

PS: Update on Sajani Shakya - She has been reinstated!! Click Here for more details

Sajani Shakya - Child Goddess

Sajani Shakya is a very special 9 year old girl. She is a living goddess. In her country, Nepal, she is worshipped as the earthly manifestation of the Hindu goddess Kali. She is one of only about a dozen children selected for this honor and is in the US on a tour to promote a documentary film about the living goddesses of the Katmandu Valley.

The Kumari or living goddesses are chosen very carefully from a special Buddhist sect to represent a Hindu goddess, demonstrating the harmony of both religions in Nepal. They are chosen very young, around 2yrs old, and must meet the 32 perfections which include the gait of a swan, a body like a banyan tree, even teeth and golden tender skin that has never been scratched.

Marc Hawker, the film's cinematographer and producer, describes the role the Kumari play in Nepalese society:

People go to the goddesses to touch their feet as they are carried through the streets. They give them money as offerings. They visit the goddess's house, where she sits on a small ornate throne, to ask for a better job, better health, a measure of happiness. The girls are not expected to impart wisdom, just blessings.


"It's not about dogma or rules," Hawker said. "People relate to her as a divine being but also as a child: they pray to her, but afterwards they sit and joke with her. There is something very comforting about worshiping a child, something about the cycle of life, about renewal."

Devotees believe that the goddess Kali inhabits the girls, though they do not exhibit unusual behavior, and then the goddess leaves them when they reach puberty. After that, the girls retire with a small pension. They are free to work and marry. "The idea of virginal, pre-menstrual purity, it does seem like a contradiction with worshiping a feminine divine," said Rachel McDermott, associate professor in the department of Asian and Middle Eastern cultures at Barnard College in New York, "but in all this, there is the devotion to purity."

As part of her US tour Sajani Shakya visited Lafayette Elementary School in Washington DC. She answered questions from the kids like:

Question: What do you do for fun? Answer: She plays hide-and-seek, computer games, watches Hindi films

Question: "Are there boy gods?" Answer: There are, but they are not worshiped like the girls.

Question: What do you eat? Answer: She is vegetarian, no chicken, no eggs, no pork........but salmon yes!

Question: What do you want to be? Answer: She wants to be a teacher.

Whitaker's documentary Living Goddesses was filmed during a dramatic moment in Nepalese history. Against the backdrop of a civil war that has taken 13,000 lives, demonstrators stormed the streets, protesting the king and debating the Kumaris' relevance.

The documentary follows Sajani as she blesses devoted passers-by and performs rituals at a yearly festival. Her perks include being worshipped by her parents and receiving offerings of chocolate. But life as a goddess isn't always bliss, apparently. "Sometimes I don't feel like going on my throne when mommy asks me," Sajani said through an interpreter. "I've got to get up so early."

Proving that even though she may be a goddess, there is still a child in there!

PS: Click here for an update on Sajani Shakya who was fired!