c. 2007 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ A young goddess lives between the ragged, regal peaks of the Himalayas. Her name is Sajani Shakya, and Hindus of Nepal _ from peasants to kings _ worship her, prostrating themselves as they bring offerings and touching their foreheads to her tiny feet. They believe that the powerful Hindu goddess Taleju possesses the girl; to do anything but revere her could spell destruction.

But this week, venturing outside her developing country for the first time to promote the documentary “Living Goddess,” Sajani is just a normal 10-year-old girl. She flits around her plush hotel suite dressed in trendy lavender pants and a hot pink T-shirt. When she bores of answering questions, she scuffs across the room in her fuchsia flip-flops and snaps a few pictures with a mammoth digital camera slung from her neck.

She lets out a giggle that’s more girlish than goddess. For a living deity, she seems, well, rather ordinary.

Sajani and her caretaker, Vijaya Mark Rana, recline in their modern hotel room, seven stories above the din of noontime traffic. During their brief stay, they will visit the National Zoo and local Hindus will come to honor the girl. A local film festival will screen the documentary.

The sprightly girl pencils a note to Rana using her limited English, and the caregiver laughs adoringly: “Go to swimming pool,” it reads. She’s just an ordinary little girl.

But Rana knows better _ Sajani is far from ordinary. She’s a “kumari,” or virgin goddess.

“She has her own powers I feel. She can take care of herself,” Rana said. “You can’t say she’s not a kumari.”

During her stay here, Sajani visited an elementary school to tell other children about her culture, her homeland and her star role in the documentary. But most people want to know about her role as a kumari, one of a handful of Nepali girls given the role of child goddess.

The tradition of kumaris dates back more than 300 years. In what might be the ultimate interfaith merger, they are chosen from a Buddhist caste to embody a Hindu deity. Selected at age 2 or 3 through horoscopes and divination, kumaris must possess 32 perfect physical characteristics, ranging from dark eyes to “a body like a banyan tree.” A series of tests must prove they have no fear.

Among Nepal’s goddesses, day-to-day life differs. The current “royal” kumari, a young girl named Preeti, lives a highly sheltered life in Kathmandu. Public appearances are rare, and when she leaves her palace, her feet must not touch the ground. A cadre of assistants carries her from place to place, and any ground she walks on must be covered with a white cloth. Every year she blesses the king of Nepal to validate his rule.

Sajani’s world is much more progressive. She fidgets as she describes her typical day through a translator, noting teatime, school, recess, homework and bedtime. She dresses normally and lives with her family. She dances to Hindi pop music.

But at the same time, she is different. A goddess since age 2, Sajani says nobody tells her no _ not even her parents _ for fear of earning divine wrath. When she is pulled out of class to grant a blessing for a sick villager, she mounts an elaborate throne wearing heavy makeup and a gold and crimson robe.

Some have raised eyebrows at the age-old custom, including a child-rights lawyer who last fall filed a complaint, saying the tradition smells of child exploitation. But for Sajani, there is no controversy. She loves being a goddess.

Asked if she enjoys her divine status, Sajani _ a girl of few words _ said simply, “Yes.”

According to Rana, Sajani sometimes asks what will happen when she reaches puberty and must relinquish her status as kumari to another young virgin. She wonders if people will still love her when she’s “normal.”

“We tell her, `Whether you’re a kumari or not, for us you’re always a kumari,”’ says Rana. “She’s such a loving child.”

In fact, Rana says, Sajani’s family plans to worship her even when she grows up.

That peculiar adoration intrigued British documentarian Ishbel Whitaker. While many Asian traditions call for submissive women, the practice of kumaris celebrates “Shakti” _ the female force of the universe before which even kings bow.

Whitaker says that among the Newar _ a Nepali indigenous group from which kumaris are selected _ women have a relatively good social position.

“That has filtered through the culture (because of) the religious culture,” she said. “In kumari worship, girls are respected.”

Even though goddesses live an enviable lifestyle, they face an uncertain future. With a history of conflict between the government and Maoist insurgents, the country of Nepal is a hotbed for political unrest. Whitaker and her crew arrived there shortly after a coup. Their filming was often hampered by curfews and travel restrictions.

Struggling for a stable democracy and increasingly influenced by Western culture, Nepal is a country at a crossroads. Whitaker’s film is an effort to capture a Hindu tradition in flux.

“It’s an elegy for a way of life that could disappear,” she said. “I wanted to record ways that may not exist in 20 years.”

KRE/PH END RINDELS850 words

A photo of Sajani Shakya is available via https://religionnews.com.