Living Goddess: A Tearful Shadow Or A Necessary Symbol?
The life of a Kumari begins and ends with the first day of being crowned and the last day spent in painful loneliness in the dim-lit corridors of a palace with whispering attendants. A child when selected, and scorned after she enters puberty, Kumaris are admired as representatives of Divine Powers; yet doomed to live a live of loneliness. It is an honor to be selected for this role, yet it is also a curse. Marrying is out, for the most part; although there have been some exceptions to this unspoken rule. This lens offers insight into the modern life Kumari, burdened and rewarded in ways difficult to understand for people outside her culture. One can't help but conclude, she needs to be of almost divine strength not to break under the strange fate assigned to her.
Three reasons to love Kumari
Kumari at a Glance
Kumari, or Kumari Devi, is a living goddess in Nepal. Kumari literally means virgin in Nepali and was the name of the goddess Durga as a child. Karel R. ?van? Kooij Religion in Nepal ISBN 9004058273 A Kumari is a prepubescent girl selected from the Shakya caste of the Nepalese Newari community. The Kumari is revered and worshipped by some of the country's Hindus as well as the Nepali Buddhists, though not the Tibetan Buddhists.
While there are several Kumaris throughout Nepal, with some cities having several, the best known is the Royal Kumari of Kathmandu, and she lives in the Kumari Ghar,...
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Kumari Videos
Meena Kumari Tribute
Exactly what the title says. Born as Begum Mahjabeen Bux, she eventually drank herself to death around the time of the release of Pakeezah in 1972. The cinematography in this clip of the song Chalte Chalte, especially at the end, was very fitting I thought - with the lights going out one by one, and ending with the fountain shutting down as the train passes by. Of course, I added the quote at the end. Know what it is?
Runtime: 5:59
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Shout Out For Kumari!
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Silver_Lotus
Just found your lens - great!! Posted July 13, 2008 |
Kumari on Flickr
Durbar Square
Kumari Ghar
Kathmandu
Kumari Ghar
Kumari Ghar, balcony...
Kali at Kathmandu, N...
guruju ko paltan
lights
expression
kaal bhairav
stick dance
dus avatar
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Kumari Video
Kumari, living child goddess
There is a tradition in Nepal that goddess Kumari lives in a body of a little girl. In a short period of her life, girl is treated like a goddess and is living in isolation in a temple. Her feet must not touch the ground, and if she hurts herself and bleeds, or when she comes to puberty, she is losing power of goddess, and she is forced to leave a temple and come back to normal life. Mostly this life is far from normal, because Kumari can never marry. There is a superstition that Kumari brings bad luck to husband. Here is a story about 15 year old Kumari and her adaptation in normal life after life in temple. I apologize because of bad sound.
Runtime: 7:00
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Dances of of Nepal
पुर्बेली मारुनी नृत्य ( Maruni Dance of eastern Nepal)
This is essentially an original dance performed with a gread pomp and show in a group by the different castes or groups of people such as Darjee, Bishwakarma, Magar, Rai, Majhi, Kumal etc. Mainly who live in the Koshi region of eastern Nepal.But we can find rarly in other rigions also. They perform this dance on the special occasions of fair, feasts, worship, festivals by playing typical folk musical instruments, such as madal, flute, cymbals, mujura, binaya etc. It is traditionally believed that females should not perform this dance. Therefore, only males perform this in a disguised form wearing female dress and decorating them as females. They thus become maruni and perform the dance. this dance is based especially on the story of the pangs and agony of Sorathi Rani, a legengendary queen.
Runtime: 7:07
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