'Living goddess' has deity status stripped after US trip

By Michael Savage

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."

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