Living Goddess?

A 10-year-old Nepalese girl who is one of the country's most important living goddesses is to have her deity status removed after she defied tradition and left her homeland to promote a documentary.

Sajani Shakya angered local religious leaders when she travelled to the United States last month to publicise a British-made film about Nepal's living goddesses. Sajani, who was based at the city of Bhaktapur's Taleju Temple in the Kathmandu valley, was worshipped by Hindus and Buddhists. As one of the kingdom's three highest Kumaris, or living goddesses, she was forbidden from leaving Nepal.

Jai Prasad Regmi, the head of a trust that manages the affairs of the Kumari tradition in Bhaktapur, said that the girl's deity status would be revoked on her return from the US this week. "It is wrong and against the tradition for her to go on a foreign tour without any permission," he said. "This is impure in our tradition. We will search for a new Kumari and install her as the living goddess."

Temple elders have also threatened to deprive Ms Sajani of the modest state pension that all former living goddesses receive when they lose their title on reaching puberty. Her replacement will be chosen from girls aged between two and four from the Buddhist Shakya family.

The girls undergo a rigorous selection procedure. The successful candidate must have the 32 attributes of perfection, which include the shape of her teeth and the pitch of her voice. She must not have any scars or wounds and must have perfect skin, hair and eyes.

It is also a requirement that she not be afraid of the dark. One of the last tests sees the small group of would-be goddesses placed in a dark room where they are surrounded by dancers wearing demonic masks and subjected to eerie noises.

It is believed that as the goddess would not be afraid of such things, the girl who is not scared by the experience should be the one chosen as the new Kumari.

As a final task, she selects her clothing from those worn by the previous living goddess. Living goddesses appear in public only very rarely for religious festivals, spending most of their time blessing devotees who visit their temple.

Once selected, living goddesses always wear red, pin up their hair in topknots and have a "third eye" painted on their forehead. Worshippers visiting them touch the goddess's feet with their foreheads - a symbol of the highest form of respect. But the living goddess tradition has its critics. They say that the practice breaks international and Nepalese laws regarding the rights of children.

The main Kumari, who lives in a palatial temple in Katmandu's Durbar Square, is only allowed outside for a small number of festivals, and she can only mix with playmates selected for her by temple officials.

Many former Kumaris remain unmarried and impoverished after losing their title, as Nepalese folklore holds that men who marry a former Kumari will die young.

The Nepalese government has recently shown a willingness to address the difficult conditions under which the tradition places young girls. Serving and retired Kumaris now receive a monthly pension of $40. Before the changes last year, former Kumaris had to survive on the offerings made to them by their devotees.