goddess girl

In the New York Times recently: For the first time (to the best of their knowledge) Washington DC was visited by a living goddess.

Sajani Shakya, 10, is considered a living goddess in Nepal, her homeland. She is worshipped as an earthly manifestation of the Hindu goddess Kali — one of about a dozen such goddesses in her homeland. And she is the first of the Nepalese living goddesses to visit the United States; the goddess girls live mostly in seclusion.

“There’s nothing I don’t like about being a goddess,” Sajani said through an interpreter.

The girl goddesses are chosen when they are about 2 years old from a Buddhist caste, though they represent a Hindu deity. Hindu and Buddhist priests pick the living goddesses after consulting a horoscope and then finding a girl who meets “the 32 perfections.” These range from skin “of golden color” to a body “like a banyan tree.” Devotees believe that the goddess Kali inhabits the girls, though they do not exhibit unusual behavior, and then the goddess leaves them when they reach puberty. After that, the girls retire with a small pension and are free to work and marry.

Sajani knows she has only a few years left before she must retire. She says she would like to be a teacher someday, but she cries with her mother over the loss of her life as a goddess.

“When I’m not a goddess anymore,” she said, “no one will treat me as well as they treat me now.”

You can read the entire article here.

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