KATMANDU: A two-year-old girl chosen as Nepal’s new living goddess was carried by family members from their home in an alley in Katmandu to a temple palace Tuesday during the country’s longest and most significant Hindu festival.
Aryatara Shakya, at 2 years and 8 months, was chosen as the new Kumari or “virgin goddess,” replacing the incumbent who is considered by tradition to become a mere mortal upon reaching puberty.
Living goddesses are worshipped by both Hindus and Buddhists. The girls are selected between the ages of 2 and 4 and are required to have unblemished skin, hair, eyes and teeth. They should not be afraid of the dark.
During religious festivals the living goddess is wheeled around on a chariot pulled by devotees. They always wear red, pin up their hair in topknots and a “third eye” is painted on their forehead.
Family, friends and devotees paraded Shakya through the streets of Katmandu on Tuesday, before entering the temple palace which will be her home for several years.
Devotees lined up to touch the girls’ feet with their foreheads, the highest sign of respect among Hindus in the Himalayan nation, and offered her flowers and money. The new Kumari will bless devotees including the president on Thursday.
“She was just my daughter yesterday, but today she is a goddess,” said her father Ananta Shakya.
He said there were already signs she would be the goddess before her birth.
“My wife during pregnancy dreamed that she was a goddess and we knew she was going to be someone very special,” he said.
The former Kumari Trishna Shakya, now aged 11 years old, left from a rear entrance on a palanquin carried by her family and supporters. She became the living goddess in 2017.
Tuesday is the eighth day of Dashain, a 15-day celebration of the victory of good over evil. Offices and schools are closed as people celebrate with their families.
Kumaris live a sequestered life. They have few selected playmates and are allowed outside only a few times a year for festivals.
Former Kumaris can face difficulties adjusting to normal life, learning to do chores and attending regular schools. According to Nepalese folklore, men who marry a former Kumari will die young, and so many girls remain unmarried.
Over the past few years, there have been many changes in tradition and the Kumari is now allowed to receive an education from private tutors inside the temple palace and even have a television set. The government also now offers retired Kumaris a small monthly pension.
Nepal chooses a 2-year-old girl as new living goddess worshipped by both Hindus and Buddhists
https://arab.news/4d7tc
Nepal chooses a 2-year-old girl as new living goddess worshipped by both Hindus and Buddhists
- Aryatara Shakya was chosen as the new Kumari – or virgin goddess – replacing the incumbent who is considered by tradition to become a mere mortal upon reaching puberty
- The girls are selected between the ages of 2 and 4 and are required to have unblemished skin, hair, eyes and teeth
Cambodia takes back looted historic artifacts handled by British art dealer
- The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodian officials on Friday received more than six dozen historic artifacts described as part of the country’s cultural heritage that had been looted during decades of war and instability.
At a ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister Hun Many, the 74 items were unveiled at the National Museum in Phnom Penh after their repatriation from the United Kingdom.
The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia.
“This substantial restitution represents one of the most important returns of Khmer cultural heritage in recent years, following major repatriations in 2021 and 2023 from the same collection,” the Culture Ministry said in a statement. “It marks a significant step forward in Cambodia’s continued efforts to recover, preserve, and restore its ancestral legacy for future generations.”
The artifacts were described as dating from the pre-Angkorian period through the height of the Angkor Empire, including “monumental sandstone sculptures, refined bronze works, and significant ritual objects.” The Angkor Empire, which extended from the ninth to the 15th century, is best known for the Angkor Wat archaeological site, the nation’s biggest tourist attraction.
Latchford was a prominent antiquities dealer who allegedly orchestrated an operation to sell looted Cambodian sculptures on the international market.
From 1970 to the 1980s, during Cambodia’s civil wars and the communist Khmer Rouge ‘s brutal reign, organized looting networks sent artifacts to Latchford, who then sold them to Western collectors, dealers, and institutions. These pieces were often physically damaged, having been pried off temple walls or other structures by the looters.
Latchford was indicted in a New York federal court in 2019 on charges including wire fraud and conspiracy. He died in 2020, aged 88, before he could be extradited to face charges.
Cambodia, like neighboring Thailand, has benefited from a trend in recent decades involving the repatriation of art and archaeological treasures. These include ancient Asian artworks as well as pieces lost or stolen during turmoil in places such as Syria, Iraq and Nazi-occupied Europe. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the prominent institutions that has been returning illegally smuggled art, including to Cambodia.
“The ancient artifacts created and preserved by our ancestors are now being returned to Cambodia, bringing warmth and joy, following the country’s return to peace,” said Hun Many, who is the younger brother of Prime Minister Hun Manet.
