There's A New Goddess In Town!
Filed under: Etc.
In Nepal, 3-year-old Matani Shakya has been declared a living goddess, or kumari.
Work that goddess action, honey!
Why was this little 3-year-old chosen to be a deity????
Matani earned her goddessip through a series of tests, including a fearless night alone in a room populated with the severed heads of sacrificed goats and buffaloes. She also met the aestehtic standards of perfect hair, skin, and teeth.
From now on, she must always wear red, her hair in topknots, a "third eye" painted on her forehead, and live in mostly solitude in a temple in the Nepali capitol. There, she will be worshipped by both Hindus and Buddhists as an incarnation of the powerful Hindu deity Taleju and will venture into the public only for religious festivals, when devotees will touch their foreheads to her feet in reverence.
When she reaches sexuality maturity she will be sent back home to her parents and a new goddess will be appointed.
How rude!
Though the tradition is centuries old and deeply rooted in Nepal's abolished monarchy, critics say it violates child rights. The girls often experience difficulty reentering a life of normalcy and since a superstition claims that those who marry a former kumari die young, the girls are often left without support.
We can sort of imagine little Zahara in that getup - she is certainly a goddess!
[Image via AP Images.]
"She also met the aesthetic standards of perfect hair, skin, and teeth." Disgusting
were not talking about britney spears? WTF
wow thats nuts. poor little girll doesnt even get a say in the whole thing
FIERCE!
If thats her so is so cute!
i'm jealous, except for the buffalo part.
I feel so bad for that little girl. I can't imagine putting a 3 yr old alone with some dead animals, and she's not even allowed to be a child!
Shiloh is much prettier than Zahara, I wanna see Shiloh in this getup =)
poor girl. she will most likely have so much difficulty adjusting once she enters puberty.
"girls often experience difficulty reentering a life of normalcy"…..shocker
what a pretty young girl.. to bad that thats the life she hass to lead
they should not do that to the poor child….shes beautiful !
awww
Perfect hair???? Hmmmm….ooooooooooooookkkkkk
so weird. but she's so cute!
If you follow the link to the other photos, she looks like she has a burn on the right side of her face…I wonder if they put that there…..
I'M SORRY HONEYS BUT THIS IS BULLSH:)T!
That poor thing.
Inhumane. And Zahara ain't no goddess.
What a beautiful child! However the pressure on her is overwhelming.
Ahhh….religion. See the new film by Bill Maher- Religulous !!!
Makes one think!
LOVE the eye makeup!
that's abuse!
poor kid.
she IS very cute, and she wont even get to have a normal life.
i get that it's an honor and whatnot, but it has to be kind of lonely.
Another reason children & human rights groups are up in arms is the fact that these kumari spent the majority of their lives prior to puberty with extremely limited human contact.
They are taken from their parents and are served upon by monks. It's sick & twisted & sad.
I realize this is part of their culture but I think it's sad and she's a beautiful little girl.
How different is this from Disney or a music label pimping underage girls to the public? Oh, besides the fact that Disney and the music labels are corporations that make a shitload of money off of exploiting underage girls?
she is such a beautiful little girl.
I definitely don't agree with what they do to their supposed goddesses, but whatever. that's how it goes.
Children should be nurtured to grow up as they will, not as adults will.
Sick. Period.
awwww shes lucky and cursed tooo lol
i bet it will have its advantages and also disadvantages but overall i think her life will be gud…hopefully u talk about her as she grows up awwww shes so cute now
how stupid is this?!?!? i mean really??
That had to be the scariest crap I've heard all day! "a fearless night alone in a room populated with the severed heads of sacrificed goats and buffaloes." I'm 31 and that would have terrified me. What demon came up with that? I try to be tolerant of other cultures but this is just wrong.
WOW, that is insane! She is a beautiful litttle girl.
That is child abuse! But what do you expect from backward Third World countries who are steeped in religion?
She's wearing eyeliner! That;s sad.
Would you please get down from Angelina and Brad's ass - Zahara is not, and never will be any goddess. For all our sakes, shut your trap!
she's precious!
I say we take a Perez-led field trip and rescue her!
OMG
spent a night alone with severed heads.
omg
ooohh! she is soooooooooo cute!!!!!!!!! i want to be like a goddess!!
Re: Gigit – lol racist bitch
This is so sad. I saw a special on Kumari's on TV and they live a lavish life of praise until another is appointed and then their lives are so lonely due to no one wanting to marry them.
Poor girl..she's beautiful.
I'm always amazed that someone with an NYU education can leave such idiotic comments on social and world issues. What's happening to this child is incredibly cruel, yet Perez clearly is trying make it a stupid gossip issue by somehow drawing Zahara Jolie-Pitt into the conversation- a comparison which is truly awe-inspiringly stupid.
Actually, "Kumari" means princess. She is a living princess. "Devika" means goddess. Nepalese is very similiar to hindi..but ask the local people, and they will tell you she is a princess.
Re: Astrid24 – Love you so bad, Astrid.
These people need TV! They're bored!
"and live in mostly solitude in a temple in the Nepali capitol." So, I'm assuming she'll also be granted unlimited therapy sessions as an adult?
Religions flow from mental illness.
~
That poor girl. This seems like the creepiest thing ever.
Making a three-year-old spend a night in a room with the severed heads of goats and buffaloes?
Ain't religion grand?
So sad.
I can find a little hindu girl like that in the street…..gross.She looks like shit.
God does not want people worshipping humans- Traditions are great to uphold but some are dangerous- to the sanity of the child and to her safety. if she wants to study her religion and become a priestess why not but to be told she is the reincarnation of an old legend and have th world worship her for the legend is disturbing in the fact that she had no feeling of this particular diety but she won a competition of the bravest child and happened to have beautiful skin hair and teeth- most children have that- where is the real test to say that you are a reincarnation- there is none. because she is a new soul or possibly a reincarnation of someone but probably not that particular soul…crazy how we allow religion to make rules for the way we live and teach our kids. What ever happened to live and love, experience life and learn about your existance.
they are so full of shit…what are they really doing to that little girl sooo stupid
she has all the hollywierd babies beat hands down!!! Hopefully when she gets older, she'll break free from the xenu life!