Kathmandu's Living Goddess

We got back from Darjeeling in time for the festival of Indra Jatra. Celebrated only in Kathmandu, this festival marks the end of the monsoon season and the beginning of the morning mists, needed for a bountiful growing season and harvest. The festival also honors Kathmandu’s living goddess, Kumari.

            Oh wait, I haven’t mentioned the fact that there’s a living goddess here? Right. She resides in the Kumari Bahal in Durbar Square, the heart of Kathmandu. The Kumari is selected from a group of girls between the ages of 4 and puberty with specific physical and astrological characteristics, and subjected to a series of tests designed to scare and frighten the little girls in order to determine the true Kumari. The one who remains calm throughout the tests is named the new living goddess. Once chosen, the girl, or should I say goddess, moves into the Kumari Bahal and is unable to touch the ground or leave the building except for a few occasions a year. Her reign ends when she reaches puberty and beings her period and the search for the next Kumari begins.

            One such occasion for the Kumari to leave her palace home is Indra Jatra. On this day, the Kumari is escorted throughout the city on a large, colorful and flower-covered chariot (as she is unable to touch the ground). People, including all major government officials (the few that there are in Nepal these days), gather in Durbar Square to see her transported through the square.

            We were granted the day off from classes for Indra Jatra. A group of us met in the early afternoon to head over to Durbar Square to get a glimpse at the celebrations. The streets leading to the square were packed with Nepalis and bideshis (foreigners) alike. It was a mob scene. Once in the square we discovered that besides the areas the police were keeping open for the chariot to pass through, almost all the available standing space was occupied. Our tardiness ended up working out in our favor. The police, armed with large guns, long bamboo sticks, and large plastic shields, walked us over to the stairs of a temple in a good location and made others make room for us – in the front row! We waited patiently, clutching our wallets, cameras, and other valuables, for the arrival of the Kumari along with the throngs of others.

            When the Kumari, aboard her chariot, finally entered the main square, the crowds cheered. She was hardly visible, with the group of men surrounding her on the chariot acting as body-guards and shoving away people who got to close to the procession. Her forehead was painted red with a large gold tika in the center and dramatic black make-up had been applied to her eyes. The chariot did not remain in the square long, and before we knew it, the celebration had completed. All in all, it was kind of bizarre. To think of what it must have been like for the Kumari herself. She looked slightly terrified when she entered the square – and understandably so.

            When I returned home, my little sister greeted me at the door and looked me up and down and then started laughing. I asked what was so funny. “You were on Nepali TV tonight! I just saw you in Durbar Square on the news!” She announced. She described my location and whom I had been sitting next to, and sure enough, she was right. Funny.

            In other news, the 4^th Annual Kathmandu Marathon is next Saturday, the 2^nd of October. There’s also a half marathon and a 5K. I think I have decided to register for the half marathon, despite the fact that I haven’t run in the month I’ve been in Nepal (women don’t really run here and so it’s not totally culturally accepted to go for a jog). The last day of registration is this coming Saturday, so I’ve got some time to think it through. I know I could run the 5K, but I’m kind of in the mood for a challenge. I’m able to understand that this sort of thing will be Type Two Fun. It won’t be Type One, the type of Fun that is really enjoyable while it’s happening. It’s the type of Fun that won’t be fun until a few days later, but in the end I will (hopefully) be able to look back at it as a good accomplishment and indeed, fun. We’ll see.


The Kumari herself:

Some faces in the crowds: