Once the chosen girl completes the Tantric purification rites and crosses from the temple on a white cloth to the Kumari Ghar to assume her throne, her life takes on an entirely new character. She will leave her palace only on ceremonial occasions. Her family will visit her rarely, and then only in a formal capacity. Her playmates will be drawn from a narrow pool of Newari children from her caste, usually the children of her caretakers. She will always be dressed in red, wear her hair in a topknot and have the agni chakchuu or ‘fire eye’ painted on her forehead as a symbol of her special powers of perception.
The Royal Kumari's new life is vastly different from the one to which she has been accustomed in her short life. Whilst her life is now free of material troubles, she has ceremonial duties to carry out. Although she is not ordered about, she is expected to behave as befits a goddess. She has shown the correct qualities during the selection process and her continued serenity is of paramount importance; an ill-tempered goddess is believed to portend bad tidings for those petitioning her.
Name | Hometown | Dates as Kumari | Marital Status |
---|---|---|---|
Hira Maiya Shakya | Wotu | 1922-1923 | married, 0 children |
Chini Shova Shakya* | Lagan | 1923-1931 | married, 2 daughters |
Chandra Devi Shakya* | Asonchuka | 1931-1933 | married, 2 daughters |
Dil Kumari Shakya | Lagan | 1933-1942 | married, 3 sons ,1 daughter |
Nani Shova Shakya | Ombahal | 1942-1949 | married, 4 sons, 2 daughters |
Kayo Mayju Shakya* | Kwahiti | 1949-1955 | married, 1 son, 1 daughter |
Harsha Laxmi Shakya | Naghal | 1955-1961 | married, 2 sons |
Nani Mayju Shakya | Naghal | 1961-1969 | married, 1 son, 2 daughters |
Sunina Shakya | Ombahal | 1969-1978 | married, 1 son, 1 daughter |
Anita Shakya | Sikamoobahal | 1978-1984 | unmarried |
Rashmila Shakya | Kwahiti | 1984-1991 | unmarried |
Amita Shakya | Asanbahal | 1991-2001 | unmarried |
Preeti Shakya | Itumbahal | 2001-2007 | unmarried |
Matani Shakya | Kathmandu | 2008-Present | unmarried |
I am against it!!! pick someone make her do all that tradition for one day then leave the child alone