Chapter – 1

Kumari Tradition and -Newar Culture

The Ekanta Kumari tradition of Bhaktapur reflects the organized way of life style of the newar community of Bhaktapur. It reflects that the community beholds an individual as unalienable part and the individual contributes to form the unity of the community. In the

Ekanta Kumari tradition, the transitions in the pre-Kumari to Kumari and Kumari to post-

Kumari position are harmoniously solved by the role of communitas.

This research work attempts to explore how a young Shakya-Bajracharya girl, especially Sajani Shakya (ex-Ekanta Kumari), in the form of Ekanta Kumari, goes through different transitional conditioning of EkantaKumari life – from pre-Kumari to Kumari and from Kumari to post-Kumari state of her life.Along with that, this workalso analyzes on how community comes to participate in the journey that Ekanta Kumari goes through. As a result, her journey is dramatized through various rituals and performances of spiritual order.

The indigenous are rich in culture, rituals and tradition. They celebrate different jatras and people from all level participate together in the celebration. All these jatras, festivals and traditions are rooted long time back to the ancient Lichchhavi and Malla courts. Moreover, Guthi system was put into practice as one of the important components to carry on such culture, rituals and tradition; and it plays the vital role for celebration which facilitates to integrate the community people at the same place. It has also created the strong bonding among the community people.

Newar people from different communities celebrate festivals of the local importance.

Such festivals become the identity of the local Newars – such as Bisket-jatra of Bhaktapur,

Bhoto-jatra of Lalitpur, Indra-jatra of Newars. Along with these, there are

1 different other festivals that they celebrate – such as Gaijatra, Ghantakarna, Nag-panchmi,

Shivaratri, etc. One fascinating thing at the time of festival is feast, where different food items are prepared and served. Along with that, different traditional Bhajan groups, musical groups and dance groups also involve to mark the festivals.

The role of Guthis is to facilitate to celebrate the festivals, to protect the local heritage and public property, and to assist the member of family in both joyous as well as mourning period of life. Premshanti , et. al., in Newar Jatiko Chinari, writes:

From the very beginning time of the history of , various Guthis had been

operated to make the society managed and simple. Organizations like Bihar, Bahil in

Buddhist religion and Math, Ashram in have played the organizational role.

Guthi has seemed to be given the responsibilities of cultural work, social

management, and judicial work to declare the punishment. (59)

It means that Guthi has been playing very crucial role in managing the society for long time.

It has been evident in both Hindu and Buddhist sects. In the past, because of its judicial responsibility, it seems that it used to be the state mechanism.

In the same way, Dapha Bhajans, musical bands and dance groups belonging to Guthi make the celebration more joyous. Such bhajan, musical bands and dance groups also have the responsibilities of transmitting the ancient music and songs, and traditional dances from generation to generation. That is how the tradition has been maintained and continued. In this regard, it is to be said that the practices of Newar ritual, culture and traditions have survived for ages.

Among the various rituals and traditions of Newar culture, Kumari tradition is one of the most dominantand common features. In each Newar community, Kumari stands as one of

2 the strongest symbols. Kumari is the ritual of living tradition, where young pre- pubescent girl around two years from Shakya or Bajracharya caste is chosen. In the Kumari tradition, people from every strata along participate and celebrate together. One interesting feature of the tradition is that people from both Hindu and Buddhist background celebrate together and worship the in their own name. In this tradition, Hindu people worship her as the goddess Taleju, the powerful goddess Bhagwati or who is regarded as the patron goddess of Malla kings; whereas the Buddhist people worship her as the goddess Vajradevi or Vajrayogini. With the same instance, Chunda Bajracharya in

“Sarbochcha Adalatle Gathan Gareko Kumari Sambandhi Samitiko Byaktigat Pratibedan” states, “In Mahayani Buddhist tradition, Kumari is regarded to worship as the goddess like

Bajradevi, Bajrayogini, Ugratara, Saraswoti, Basundhara, , etc.; Whereas in ‘Hindu’ tradition, she is worshiped as the form of goddess Taleju” (17).

Picture 1: Goddess Taleju of Golden Gate Tympanum, Bhaktapur

3 Regarding the initiation of Kumari tradition, it is mentioned in thyasaphu or chronicle. According to Durga Shakya, Harisimhadeva, the king of Simrongadh, along with his wife Devaldevi escaped to Bhaktapur in 1382 BS after being attacked by Mughal emperor and brought goddess Taleju together with him. The goddess was established in Bhaktapur palace through the tantric power. In this regard, Shakya has stated reasons why

Harisimhadeva brought the goddess to Bhaktapur in ‘The arrival of Tulaja Bhawani in

Nepal’,

For King Harisimhadeva the best option was to come to the Kathmandu Valley. First

it was the place to which the Devi had asked the king to take her. Second,

Harisimhadeva’s queen, Devaldevi, was a princess from Bhaktapur. She was the

daughter of Tunga Malla, the King of Bhaktapur. Thus, this fortuitous relationship

was an important factor in the arrival of the Sri Yantra in Nepal. Had Devaldevi not

been born in the kingdom of Bhaktapur the cult of Taleju Bhawani might not have

taken root here. (39-40)

There is not unanimous thought about the initiator of Kumari tradition. Lila Bhakta

Munankarmi and Pujari Naike Narendra Joshi are with the view that the tradition was started by the King Jagjyoti Malla. Munanakarmi sates in “Jugjyoti Malla” ofNepalko sanskritik tatha etihasik Digdashan, “The goddess Tulaja came to play dice (pasa) with the king

(Jagjyoti Malla) being happy with his deeds. But as the king gave more attention to the goddess, she became disappeared forever” (154), But Durga Shakya has claimed that Kumari goddess was initiated by the King Trailokya Malla. Shakya presents her idea in ‘Shri Kumari

– The Living Goddess of Nepal’, “One time a princess by the name of Ganga Devi – the daughter of king Trailokya Malla – happened to open the yantra and catch glimpse of it. But the yantra was not supposed to be seen by any female, Tulaja Bhawani became angry and disappeared into a different realm and the Malla kings from that time never saw the

4 goddessin person again” (171). Anyway the king disrespected her either by holding her hand lustily or by breaching the secrecy of their meeting. Then after, the goddess vanished forever.

She denied to be visible even after the king requested a lot, but she provided an alternative way of representing that she would be present in the body of young Shakya girl. The Kumari tradition began from the time. As Isabella Tree states in The Living Goddess:

‘I shall grant you darshan,’ the Goddess continued sternly. ‘But I will reveal myself to

you in a form that will teach you wisdom and humility. I shall inhabit the body of a

living child, a girl who has not yet bled. This sadya kumari must come from a caste

that performs some base and polluting occupation. Heed this with all your heart, for it

will be your salvation and the salvation of kings to come. (157)

The goddess Kumari is a living and virgin deity; and the young Shakya girl, who comes from Buddhist lineage, represents her. The Buddhist girl remains Kumari till her maturity, the starting of puberty. Thus, the transition occurs in the Kumari practice from Pre-

Kumari to Kumari and Kumari to Post-Kumari. Kumari is nominated by the expert committee. To be qualified as a Kumari, the girl of two or three years should possess thirty two virtues and she must be from the Buddhist lineage of Shakya or Bajracharya caste. Her tenure is extended till she remains virgin. She would remain no more virgin after her menstruation, rather the Kumari post terminates. At this point, both the terminating goddess and the appointing newgoddess have to go through the transitional phase.

Although Kumari is the dominant figure in the Newar communities, she is installed and worshipped at the local level. At present in Kathmandu valley, there are altogether twelve

Kumaris – four in Kathmandu, Two in Lalitpur, four in Bhaktapur, one in Bunmati and one in

Deopatan. All these Kumaris have the important role at the local level. And the rituals and

5 worshipping patterns of each Kumari is different from another. It means there are differences in the rituals for the same goddess.

Particularly talking about Bhaktapur; Naredndra Joshi, Present Pujari Naike of

Bhaktapur Taleju, views, “People regard four Kumaris – Ekanta Kumari, Wane-laku Kumari,

Tibukchhe Kumari and Sakotha Bahal Kumari. Ekanta Kumari is the primarily important one as she is equivalent deity to ex-Royal Kumari of Patan and Royal Kumari of Basantapur”

(Personal interview, Sep. 29, 2018). It means that she used to be the Royal Kumari in the then Bhaktapur Kingdom where she has been worshipped as goddess all over Bhaktapur.

Wane-laku Kumari is only the important figure for the people around Dattatraya area,

Picture 2: Present Ekanta Kumari sitting in the throne at the time of

6 whereas Tibukchhe Kumari is regarded deity in the Tibukchhe tole only. Tibukchhe Kumari needs to be changed every year, because she needs to be newly born baby. She is also regarded as the patron goddess for the people around Tibukchhe area. And Sakotha Bahal

Kumari is not shown to anyone publicly, who is worshipped secretly as she is the patron goddess of Hada and Bijukchhe caste.

The focus of this research is on the ex-Ekanta Kumari Sajani Shakya. In the terrain of

Ekanta Kumari, I have taken into consideration as the subject of the study - the journey that

Ekanta Kumari makes, community participation, the process that she has followed, interviews with Sajani Shakya, Narendra Joshi(Mul Purohit of Taleju), and Nhuchhe Ratna Shakya and

Rukmani Shakya (Sajani's Parents as well as Kumari caretakers), the series of events and the rounds of rituals - as the texts. The texts are not about the written form; rather about the performers of the texts or events who are still alive.

Communitas comes to play a major role while Ekanta Kumari passes through liminal changes. Liminality refers to the transition, which occurs temporarily, spatially and ritually.

In each culture, liminality is marked especially. For example, New Year celebration is the marking of the temporal liminality. Similarly, migrating people from one place to the next is the spatial liminality, whereas the girl’s first period marks as the ritual liminality. From the time it is regarded that the girl turns to the maturedhood.

Communitas refers to the community, where people get adjusted. People passing away from the liminality get retreat in the community with the feeling of communitas. In this regard, communitas is the humanitarian feeling. The sense of communitas is promoted through different social groups, such as Guthi in the Newar community. When someone passes away, then the Guthi members manage the funeral procession and assist the bereaved

7 family to be normal in the society. Both liminality and communitas are the timeless practice and experience, because these things have been prevalent from the time immemorial.

Arnold Van Gennep presents the concept of liminality. He prefers term ‘rites of passage’ for the concept. He defines liminality as the transitional phase. He states that rites de passage as “rites which accompany every place of change, state, social position and age”

(qtd. in Turner 89). He further elucidates, “all rites of passage or “transition” are marked by three phases: separation, margin (or limen, signifying “ threshold” in Latin), and aggregation”

(qtd. in Turner 89). Here, the first phase separation is associated with detachment from the earlier state. Similarly, the second phase margin is related to ambiguous state, which is attributed of both past and coming state. And lastly the third phase reaggregation is about reincorporation, where the behavior is fixed according to certain norms and ethical standards.

Victor Turner has used the term liminality for Van Gennep’s concept ‘rites of passage’. Turner has used the term in the broader sense. For him, there are different situations of liminality, where transition occurs; especially ritualized social and cultural transition. In his article “liminality and communitas” he states, “Liminal entities are neither here nor there, they are betwixt and between the positions assigned and arrayed by law, custom, convention, and ceremonial” (89). He further elucidates that there are different situations of liminality where transition occurs; especially ritual, social and cultural transition. Liminal entities, such as puberty rites, are taken negatively by the society. They are even described as a monster.

Turner has broadened the idea of liminality with the concept of communitas. He puts forward his idea about communitas, “I prefer the Latin term “communitas” to “community”, to distinguish the modality of social relationship from an “area of common living” (91). That is to say communitas is distinct from common way of living, rather sacred one which is required during the liminal phase. Further, he stresses that communitas provides the

8 recognition to the human relationship which is the foundation of the society. In other terms, he explains in his article “Liminality and Communitas”, “A matter of giving a general stamp of legitimacy to a society’s structural positions. It is rather a matter of giving recognition to an essential and generic human bond, without which there could be no society. Liminality implies that the high could be high unless the low existed, and he who is high must experience what it is like to be low” (91).In this process of liminality, the hierarchy of high and low does not exist as to gain high, one should go through the low. The continuous interplay of liminality and communitas creates the social performance.

Turner elaborates the terms liminality and communitas from the study of Ndembu community of Gambia, Africa. In his findings in Chihamba cult of Ndembu Africa, the social performance is result of the individual affliction. When the individual is afflicted with the bad luck, he or she has to undergo through the liminal phase or rite de passage as he is separated for certain time. In “Chihamba the White Spirit” compiled in Revelation and Divination in

Ndembu Ritual, Turner has mentioned, “Several cults have the classical rite de passage form, involving the performance of two successive rituals, separated by a period during which the patient undergoes partial seclusion from secular life” (38).

For Turner, communitas is voluntary formation and there is non –structured relationship. He has described about the formation of communitas in the “Introduction” of

Revelation and Divination in Ndembu Ritual, “Communitas is a nonstructured relationship, or, better, a spontaneously structured relationship which often develops among luminaries, individuals in passage between social statuses and cultural states that have been cognitively defined, logically articulated, and endowed with jural rights and obligations” (22).

Turner further elucidates divination and revelation, “Divination seeks to uncover the private malignity that is infecting the public body, while revelation asserts the fundamental

9 power and health of society and nature grasped integrally” (16). Therefore, divination signifies liminality and revelation signifies communitas. Here, divination is associated with the culturally defined sins and vices. And revelation is the integral part of the society.

Furthermore he depicts the relationship between divination and revelation with liminality and communitas, “Revelation and divination both unmask, but divination unmasks the culturally defined sins and vices of those who voluntarily separate themselves from the living flow of the society, while revelation uncovers that flow of itself” (17). That is to say, the social performance occurs with the interplay of divination and revelation or liminality and communitas.

The live and real performance occurs in the Ekanta Kumari tradition in Bhaktapur, where all the city dwellers are supposed to be the real characters of this performance. And different people have different roles. Such as, Shakya- girl plays the role of

Ekanta Kumari. Similarly, there are the roles of Taleju Priests, Kumari caretakers, different musical groups, Kasai Nayo, Suwa Nayo, etc.Kumari performance incaptures deity, ruler and the general public in the form of devotees. The duties and responsibilities of all these concerned personalities are fixed. The same kinds of ideas are presented by Richard

Schechner.

According to Richard Schechner, performance does not take place at theatre only; rather it can take place anywhere. And the real performance takes place outside the theatre for him. Similarly, not only the theatre artist is performer, rather everyone, and the performance can take place everywhere. He says in his article ‘Drama, Script, Theatre and Performance’ that performance is something that people gather in time and place, and event should happen there. He says, "it is hard to define "performance" because the boundaries separating it on the one side from the theatre and on the other side from everyday life are arbitrary" (84).

10 In his next article ‘Fundamentals of Performance Studies’ Schechner argues that everyone is performer. So, it is the broad spectrum approach of performance that regards - the role in real life is no different than the role to play in theatre. He states, "The underlying theoretical meaning is that any action can be framed, presented, highlighted, or displayed as a performance" (xii).

Schechner observes the theatrical qualities in the ritual performance. So, he states in

'Ritual and Performance,' "The pattern of gathering, performing, and dispersing is specifically theatrical one" (620). Here, Schechner's idea of performance provides critical insights to analyze the social performance of Kumari.

Furthermore, Schechner presents the idea that rituals are marked different transitional phases of life. Supporting the argument, Schechner in ‘Ritual and Performance’ argues,

Rituals are performed on schedule, at specific locations, regardless of weather or

attendance. They mark days and places of importance (Lent to Easter in Christendom,

the half month leading up to dasahara among Hindus, New Year’s Day in Japan,

Ramdan and the hadj in Islam, and so on); or are hung on life’s hinges where

individual experience connects to society rites of passage send people through birth,

puberty, marriage, induction, resignation, and death. Ritual texts – verbal, musical and

theatrical – are fixed and often sacred. (613)

The performance of the rituals occurs in the calendric order. It repeats with the fixed time interval. The performance needs to be performed at the specific places, which is regarded as the sacred one. Different symbols or the ritual texts are used to mark special. The rituals start with the birth and end along with the death. So, it is inevitable aspect of human life.

11 Michael Allen has found that the impression of the triangular relationship among

King, Taleju and Kumari in Bhaktapur is still there. He writes in "The ex-Royal Kumaris of

Patan and Bhaktapur", "The key triangular relationship between King, Taleju and Kumari still today represents some of the core values upon which Bhaktapur as a distinctively Hindu and Newar City is predicated" (55). Here, he interprets Kumari transformation as "uncanny transformation" (qtd.Levi 61) and states, "the young girls who take the part of the goddess

Kumariare simply humans who make the deity manifest in their very human bodies" (61).

Isabella Tree finds the triangular relationship as the triangular virtues or gunas. In

"The Royal Kumari of Bhaktapur", she mentions, "the King, Kumari and Talejuformed a triangle that was the reflection of three gunas. The gunas were the fundamental aspects of reality manifested by Prakriti - the goddess who was the creative origin of all matter and energy" (175). She further writes about the represented gunas,

The King represented the guna knows as tamas - the descending quality or inertia; the

Kumari, rajas - the kinetic quality; and Taleju, sattva - the ascending quality. Implicit

in the relationship was the notion that, without the kinetic quality of Kumari, the King

would remain impotent and inert - incapable of connecting with transcendent divinity.

(175)

Durga Shakya views how the Kumari tradition runs in association with Guthi. In "The

Importance of Devi Tulaja Bhawani in Nepal", she writes,

"The Malla Kings also allocated numerous properties - particularly land - under the

Guthi system in order to maintain the expenses needed to conduct pujas and festivals

in honour of the Devi. The expenses were large since pujas and rituals had to be

performed daily, weekly and monthly" (48).

12 Purandevi , who files the case against the Kumari tradition in the Supreme

Court, has found the tradition based on superstition. She does the comparative study of different Kumaris of Kathmandu valley. Maharjan in her report "Jivit Devi Kumariharuko

Manabadhikar Sthiti: Anusandhan Pratibedan" has examined the cases of nine different

Kumaris of Kathmandu valley. She studies different situations and aspects of the prevalent

Kumaris. In her report, she has mentioned that the human rights condition of Basantapur kumari, Patan Kumari, Kathmandu Kwa:Bahal Kumari and Kathmandu Mu-Bahal Kumari are not satisfactory. They are "prohibited from different rights – such as rights of education, rights of travelling, rights of family environment, rights of balanced diet, rights of entertainment, along with other child rights" (39). In this regard, she concludes, "Thus the tradition is against the constitution of Nepal 2047 and Interim Constitution of Nepal 2063, and Child Rights Treaty 1989" (39). Here, Maharjan has studied the tradition from the human rights and child rights perspective. Furthermore, she has found that the human rights condition of Bhaktapur Kumari is normal. In her findings, this Kumari "enjoys all human rights and child rights in normal time but in the Dashain and other festival times, she has to lose the human and child rights in the name of tradition. Thus her rights are also not fully secured" (41).

Similarly, Chunda Bajracharya has presented her report with the title "Sarbochcha

Adalatle Gathan Gareko Kumari Sambandhi Samitiko Byaktigat Pratibedan" from the perspective of conservation. In her examination, the goddess Kumari is important from various ways – such as historical, mythical, cultural, ritual, religious, philosophical, social and even political – for both Hindu and Buddhist sects. She also demands to "bring adjustable changes in the tradition according to the modern time" (33) and "the government should secure the future of the Kumari girl by providing education freely and financial allowance"(31). Thus, she stresses on the conservation of the tradition.

13 In the same way, Jalakrishna Shrestha, coordinator and vice-secretary of Kumari

Pratha Adhyan Sujhab Samiti, has examined the tradition from the perspective of religious and cultural importance, and also analyses the position and place of Kumari in the society.

His report entitled "Kathmandu Upatyakama Prachalit Kumari Pratha Bishayak Ek

Pratibedan" focuses more on advices to bring necessary changes in the Kumari practice. He states, " I do not get any human rights violation of the Kumari girl, rather seek the government needs to do more advertisement of the tradition in order to spread our culture in the international level" (60).In this regard, he advises to manage the tradition more effectively and be flexible that could secure the future of the Kumari tradition along with the Kumari girl.

On the other hand, Bhubanlal Pradhan, in his article "Kathmanduki Jivit Debta:

Kumari", has examined the Kumari tradition from the historical and mythical perspective. He writes, "Kumari has received the higher position only after representing her as the symbol of goddess Taleju" (74). He further states, "The goddess Kumari has been enlisted in the deity group like Nawadurga group and Astramatrika group. Along with that, the goddess Kumari is established in different parts of Kathmandu valley" (74-75). He mentions how Kumari has got importance, "After starting the tradition of the living Kumari, she becomes the primary importance as there have been the royal Kumari in each state of Kathmandu valley" (75).

Furthermore, he states how Kathmandu Kumari acquired the royal state, "After winning the

Kathmandu valley by Prithvi Narayan Shah, only the Basantapur Kumari has been regarded as the royal Kumari of Nepal" (79). Here, Shrestha has focused in the origination of the tradition and how it has been continued in different time period with the added changes.

This research work explores ritualistic and performative aspects of living goddess

Kumari. This work also gives more stress on how the mobilization of people occurs around

Kumari in different festivals, role of Kumari as the divine figure and the complication of

14 divinity transformation. Moreover, unlike the reviewed works above, I attempt to delineate the case study on Ekanta Kumari of Bhaktapur.

Before delving into the analysis of the ritual of Ekanta Kumari tradition, I want to trace how different scholars have written about the rituals.

Richard Schechner has presented the performative aspect of ritual. In his article

"Ritual and Performance" Schechner presents his idea, "Rituals are performative: they are acts done; and performances are ritualized: they are codified, repeatable actions" (613).

Schechner stresses that rituals are acted out and they occur in repeatable manner in regular time interval, which takes the form of rituals. Schechner further points out the performative aspects,

Dancing, Singing, wearing masks and costumes; impersonating other people, animals,

gods, and demons (and being possessed by these others); acting out narratives,

rehearsing or in other ways preparing actions, and making ready places where people

can gather to perform and witness performances, are all integral to being human.

(614)

In the performances, people play the roles like god or demon or animal along with the appropriate form of dress. Similarly, Schechner views that human pattern of performance form a kind of game and art. He writes, "In brief human occupied an ecological niche that kept bands on the move in regular, repetitious patterns, following games, adjusting to the seasons, creating art and rituals" (617). Here by referring 'ecological niche', Schechner has presented the equitable roles of all the participants in the ritual phenomenon. Schechner also shows the relationship between the ritual performance and the land. He writes, "From a traditional aboriginal view, today's people ought not to disrupt the landscape, but should live in close harmony with it" (619). Here he wished to have the harmonious relation of

15 performance with the land even at present. His worry of discontinuity of performance was seen in the statement, "Aboriginal art , in so far as it is produced by living people, is thus not

'creative' as evocative of what is always in danger if it is not insistently performed" (619). He stressed on the unhindered performance for its long life.

The cultural performance makes the society unified and created the uniform identity.

The same kind of idea, in "Introduction: symbolic action in theory and practice: the cultural pragmatics of symbolic action", is presented by Jeffrey C. Alexander and Jason L. Mast,

"Ritual has performed the work of solidifying collective identity and embedding the cultural system in individual actions. As social forms of organization have grown more complex and cultural systems more differentiated, however, interaction - and collective-rituals have grown more contingent" (17). Here Alexander and Mast relate an individual's activities as the extension of the unified culture and collective rituals. For them, the question of social leader is resolved through the ritual process. They write, "The social actors who play ritual leaders have become defused from ritual productions. Participation in, and acceptance of, ritual messages are more a matter of choice than obligation" (17). Alexander and Mast think that to be the part of ritual activities is only the personal choice, not mandatory.

Jeffrey C. Alexander traces the performative failure and success in "Cultural pragmatics: social performance between ritual and strategy". When one is devoid from the relation with the ritual of society, the performance turns into failure. He points out,

Failed performances are those in which the actor, whether individual or collective, has

been unable to sew back together the elements of performance to make them seem

connected seamlessly. This performative failure makes it much more difficult for the

actor to realize his or her intentions in a practical way. (32)

The failure performance develops the harsh relationship in social phenomenon. Along with this, he also remarks on performative success, "Successful performance depends on the

16 ability to convince others that one’s performance is true, with all the ambiguities that the notion of aesthetic truth implies. Once we understand cultural performance in this way, we can easily make out the basic elements that compose it" (32). Here Alexander emphasizes that the base of the successful performance lies in the understanding of ritual elements, which helps to resolve the ambiguities. He further writes how myth plays the role to form the ritual tradition, "Systems of collective representations range from “time immemorial” myth to invented traditions created right on the spot, from oral traditions to scripts prepared by such specialists as playwrights, journalists, and speech writers" (33). He stresses on the collective identity which has been practiced as the form of ritual tradition since long back. In addition, he expresses how divine is represented metaphorically through human performance. He writes,

In such ritualized performances, the belief dimension is experienced as personal,

immediate, and iconographic. Through the painting, masking, and reconfiguring of

the physical body, the actors in these performances seek not only metaphorically but

literally to become the text, their goal being to project the fusion of human and totem,

“ man and God,” sacred and mundane. The symbolic roles that define participation in

such ritualized performances emerge directly, and without mediation, from the other

social roles actors play. (39)

The fusion of "man and god" is the symbolic act which has taken the ritual form and people's participation is directly related with their belief. He mentions that the present culture or representation is the long time tradition. He states, "Behind every actor’s social and theatrical performance lies the already established skein of collective representations that compose culture – the universe of basic narratives and codes and the cookbook of rhetorical configurations for which every performance draws" (58). Here he emphasizes that the cultural tradition creates a form of code or narration.

17 Bernhard Giesen presents the idea about sacred object on "Performing the sacred: a

Durkheimian perspective on the performative turn in the social sciences". One experiences it hardly. Giesen writes,

If we account for the complexity of self-reference it is hardly a surprise that the direct

encounter with what is called “the secred” is rare and exceptional. It is the contrary to

the empirical perception of profane objects. These are experienced because we

dispose of categories, words, textual grids into which they seem to fit effortlessly,

while the sacred is experienced because and insofar as it cannot be inserted into the

grid of profane classification. (329)

Through the pragmatic observation, it is not possible to observe the sacred. It is the matter of self-referential issue. He further states, "In its most elementary form the encounter with the sacred does allow to be classified as positive or negative: the “spirits” in original religions hint at this axiologically undifferentiated impact of the sacred" (330). Giesen observes the positive and negative forms of sacred which is disseminated from the religion and spirits, though it is indistinguishable ethically. He attempts to define the religion as presenting human being as virtue and vice. He writes, "Religions refer to it as acting persons like gods and devils or as spheres like heaven and hell; psychoanalytic theory rephrase it as the opposition between Eros and Thanatos; Heideggerian philosophy refer it as “being” and

“nonbeing” etc." (330). He also presents how good and bad are presented in different philosophical disciplines. In the same way, Giesen reveals that the symbolic material or place of sacrality is connected with the collective identity. He writes,

Spacial modes of symbolic representation assume that there are particular material

objects or places that are fused with sacrality, that recall past world or promise future

ones and thus embody collective identity – in distinction to other places and objects

that are considered as profane, as cases of a kind, as objects that can be used and

18 consumed, exploited and destroyed and that, above all, are the sites and materials for

mundane everyday interaction. (332)

The future of such sacred object depends on how it is used at present - if it is used in order to conserve, then the importance remains further; otherwise destroyed. He further writes about the forms of sacred materials,

The bones of the ancestors, the relics of important individuals, the statuses of the

gods, the sites of temples and the memorial monuments of a nation, but also flags of

sports clubs or cherished pieces of art are such material embodiments of the sacred.

These material symbols are not just conventional signs that can easily be replaced by

others. (332-333)

These signs are regarded sacred from long time past which has formed the convention, so it is almost impossible to replace them with other objects. For Giesen, the value or essence of sacrality is evoked because of the community participation. He writes, "The members of a community try to be close its sacred object s in order to partake in this aura. Proximity to a sacred object is experienced as an extraordinary situation – it evokes feelings of excitement and bans mundane activities to a certain degree" (333). Here he focuses on the especial situation which excites people in their day to day activities. He thinks that the sacred materials are created by people themselves. In this regard, he writes,

In distinction to these conceptions of the sacred as a supernatural force there are

visible representations of the sacred that are intentionally produced by men: statuses

and images of gods and deities, sacred symbols, temples and altars that are set apart

from the space if profane objects and exempted from regular use for profane purposes.

(333)

In order to feel these objects special, they are kept with the special provision. Here he posits the in between position of sacrality. He writes, "In between the realm of the sacred forces and

19 the realm of profane proceedings a zone of mixed creatures emerges – gods who have man traits, heroes who are semi-divine, monsters who are partly animals and partly human, devils and witches who are demons in human body, etc." (334). He points out that the human qualities which fixes their traits like virtue or vice (divine or monster). He also discusses about god in modern time. In this regard, he writes, "In modern societies the sacred is commonly related to the identity of the individual persons, but it can also be conceived of as a personal God who is represented by, for example, a mask" (356). Mask is the symbolic representation of god in the modern time.Giesen interprets rituals as the event which occurs repeatedly. He writes,

Ritual performances are not just events, but iterations of events. They repeat events

that have happened before. Only by this reference to the past can the ritual become

visible as a standardized performance. This standardization and formalism are at the

core of the ritual process. (338)

The repeated occurrence of the ritual makes it standard. In addition, he shows the connection of individual with society in the ritual performance. He writes, "

Thus, the ritual performance results neither from the inner attitude of the individual

actor nor from the bodily behavior alone. Instead, it is generated by the collective

definition of the performance as serious and this seriousness is related to the sacred

basis of their social bond: the ritual actors would put their collective identity and the

core of their social order at stake if they would, afterwards, invalidate a serious ritual

performance. (340)

The individual performer is not valued in the isolation, rather it needs to have the bonding with the society and it disseminate the ritual identity. Moreover, he states, "As rituals are collective endeavors that draw a boundary between inside and outside. They achieve their construction of collective identity best by excluding outsiders" (343). The collective identity

20 does not incorporate the outsider of the community. In Geisen's perspective, the community is worried of destroying the ritual. So, he writes, "Outsiders can destroy the taken-for-granted assumption of the presence of the sacred that is produced by the constitutive poesis. They do not know how to continue the ritual action, and their very presence seems to contaminate the aura of the sacred" (344). The outsiders are not serious about the essence of the rituals and they do not give the continuity to the ritual action. At this point, he mentions, "Most ritual communities are hunted by the fear that the evil outside could cross the boundary, invade the bodies of its members, and be present within the community, although it is a disguised way"

(345). He stresses on that the community people are suspicious to the outsiders whether they attack to their ritual in the hidden form.

Being mindful of these diverse views on issues related withthe rituals and the Ekanta

Kumari tradition, this workintends to analyze transitional phases (pre-Kumari to Kumari and

Kumari to post-Kumari) of ex-Kumari Sajani Shakya.

The second chapter focuses on a few questions - How could the goddess exist within the human body? What sort of changes occurs within the newly appointed Kumari? Does the psychological state remain same after the termination? What role does the community play in such changed situation? The following Ekanta Kumari procedure, which is narrated by the concerned personalities, facilitates in examining Sajani's transitional phases.

Pujari Naike Joshi sates, “In Bhaktapur, Ekanta Kumari post is not terminated, rather the Kumari girl, with the consent of her parents, takes the voluntary retirement around eleven years to accomplish Newari girl’s rituals like ‘’ and ‘Barha teyegu’ before the first menstrual period” (personal interview, Sep. 29, 2018).

Rukmani Shakya, Present Kumamang, in the interview, says, “After the retirement of incumbent Ekanta Kumari, new Kumari is installed. First of all, Susare Nayo and Nakin

21 (elder male and female of Kumari caretaker family) of Kumari chhe visit to different Shakya and Bajracharya families associated with different Bahals around Bhaktapur” (personal interview, Sep. 15, 2018). Some qualifications should be met to be Kumari. According to

Jushi Naike of Taleju, who has the primary role to choose Kumari, the qualifications for

Kumari are:

i. The girl should be from Shakya-Bajracharya family

ii. She should be Bhaktapur residential

iii. She should be of two to eight years age

iv. She should have maximum virtues

v. She should have happy and bright face

vi. She should not have any blemishes and scares on her body

vii. She should have the desire to be Kumari

viii. There should be the consent of family

Jushi Naike Joshi in “Shri Kumari Puja ra Kumari Chhanaut Bidhi” writes,

In their search of Ekanta Kumari, Susare Nayo and Nakin visit to different Shakya

and Bajracharya houses by taking flower from Agam and they choose the suitable girl

and put flower on her head. She is observed for four days. During the observation

period, if she feels happy and is not affected by any other diseases, then she becomes

the one of the candidates for Ekanta Kumari. There can be more than one candidate.

All the probable Ekanta Kumaris are taken to Mule Naike (Jushi Nayo). He chooses

Ekanta Kumari among the candidates. (44)

In the selection process of new Ekanta Kumari, Achaju and Brahmin priests do not have any role; rather Jushi needs to give the approval to the girl searched by Kumari Nayo and Nakin.

He observes her whether she is appropriate to be the goddess or not and her body has

22 blemishes and scares or not. After his approval, the chosen girl becomes the goddess Ekanta

Kumari.

At last, she is taken to Guthi Sansthan for the formal registration. Pujari Naike Joshi further expresses, “Before the country turned into Republican, Kumari used to be appointed by the Mule Purohit of the country or the Palace. After the abolition of the Monarchy, Mule

Purohit’s responsibility has been performed by Guthi Sansthan” (Personal interview, Sep. 29,

2018). Here, the remarkable thing is that Mule Purohit in past and Guthi Sansthan at present appoint the girl for Ekanta Kumari only after the recommendation of the Jushi Nayo of

Taleju. In this regard, Jushi Nayo has the primary responsibility in the process of Kumari selection.

After the retirement, she is not treated special in the society, rather she is behaved normally. She also behaves other family members and people of the society in normal manner. On the other hand, in the transition of the young girl into Ekanta Kumari, the young girl needs to adopt the holy way of life. She no more remains a normal girl. Kumamang

Shakya narrates,

After being selected Ekanta Kumari, the girl remains no more normal girl as she is

ascended to the goddess figure. However, she performs day to day humanly activities.

Such as, she lives with her family. She goes to her school. She plays with her friends.

She eats normal food. She visits her relatives and surroundings. (personal interview,

Sep. 15, 2018)

Unlike that, during the time of Dashain, she needs to abandon her humanly life, rather she adopts the goddess avatar. Pujari Naike Joshi expresses in the questionnaire, “From the day of earlier Sunday or Thursday of Ghatasthapana, she moves to Kumari Chhe located in

Prashannashil Mahabihar premises, lives with Sushare (caretaker) family and not allowed to

23 come out from Kumari Chhe” (personal interview, Sep. 29, 2018). She is adorned with traditional goddess attires and jewelries, and does the necessary make up; which transform her as the complete goddess figure. Whole day she sits on her Ashan (Special Seat) and she blesses to the devotees whoever comes there for worshiping.

After the retirement of the incumbent Kumari, the new Kumari is installed. In this process, the transition occurs at two levels. At first, there is the transition of retiring Kumari, who is going to assimilate into the society and live a normal life. Secondly, the young girl is going to transform into a deity called Kumari.

Post Kumari life is completely a free life. There are not any obligations and rules to follow. According to the past Kumari, at the beginning the retired Kumari feels difficulty in seeing the ornaments in other’s body as she has been wearing them solely for long time.

Sajani Shakya, former Kumari (2056-2064 B.S.), shares her experience, “At the beginning of my retirement, I felt difficult to adjust; I thought the jewelries and dresses are mine and it was difficult for me to see them in other’s body. I even cried seeing them in other’s body”

(personal interview, Sep. 22, 2018).

The Kumari girl does not need to abandon her home and family during the normal time. She enjoys her family life as any other child. During Dashain and Special worshiping time only, she shifts her residence and switches to the goddess avatar. She is worshipped and addressed as ‘Kumari Maiju’ only during her Kumari Avatar even by their family members.

In any other time, she is not addressed with any special name referring goddess; she is just treated as any other daughter in the family.

In normal time, the girl lives in the society, and she does and participates in social happenings as any other social members. During Dashain, the society mobilizes around her and worships her.

24 Kumari Susare Nayo and Nakin are the real caretakers of Kumari Chhe during the festival time. According to Rukmani Shakya, current Kumamang of Kumari Chhe at

Bhaktapur, Kumamang and Kumari are almost like mother and daughter as she is more responsible in her caretaking. Kumari Nayo and Nakin play the vital role in choosing New

Kumari to run the festival. Nhuchhe Ratna Shakya, Present Kumari Nayo, states that Kumari taking care is their traditional family profession. After them the profession is supposed to be continued by their sons.He further states,"They need to do ‘Nitya Puja’ (regular worshipping) every morning at the Agam in the Kumari Chhe.Apart from that they are in-charge of Kumari

Chhe" (personal interview, Sept. 15, 2018).

There is the team of four priests in Taleju Temple in Durbar Square premises. They are namely Jushi (Joshi), two Achaju priests (Karmacharya) and Brahmin priest

(Rajopadhyaya).Jushi NayoJoshi describes, “During the puja in Dashain (on the day of

Nawami) at Taleju with the presence of Kumari, all the priests involve and all the puja rituals are done very secretly. No one is allowed to observe, even kumamang is not allowed to enter into puja spot. She waits Kumari outside at the courtyard" (personal interview, Sept. 29,

2018). Junisha Shakya, former Kumari (2071-2073 B.S.), shares her experience, “I do not remember the rituals inside Taleju temple, at that time I felt like the goddess entered into me.

After coming out from the puja room, I did not remember anything” (personal interview, Oct.

18, 2018).

In the interview with Narendra Joshi, present Pujari Naike, states, “The Kumari girl shifts from her residence to Kumari Chhe on the previous Sunday or Thursday of

Ghatasthapana as the days are supposedly auspicious for the goddess. Along with her, Wane

Lyaku Kumari from Tachapal Tole area also comes to be together”(personal interview, Sep.

29, 2018). Similarly, Kumamang Shakyaviews,

25 Ekanta Kumari needs to live there, whereas Wane Lyaku Kumari returns every

evening by coming there in the morning. Every morning they are worshipped at the

Agam. For the worshipping, Puja materials are brought for Wane Lyaku Kumari from

Wane Lyaku Kumari house. In case of Ekanta Kumari, she is taken to Sakotha Bahal

every evening for the worshipping. (personal interview, Sep. 15, 2018)

During the festival, people from all professional castes and strata serve and participate in the Taleju and Kumari Worshiping through their traditional skills. Pujari Naike Joshi in

“Shri Kumari Puja ra Kumari Chhanaut Bidhi” describes,

It is worshipped according to the method of Shastra by Rajopadhyaya, Joshi,

Karmacharya priests; in which there is the active participation of Mule-Guthi,

Chau-Guthi, Thadil, Kodil, Layeku Nakin, Suwal, Chokabhadel, Kapali,

Rajbhandari, Shahi, Madhikarmi, etc. of Shri Taleju. (44)

Kumari Nayo Shakya responds in the interview, “Nawami is the most important day.

On this day, different eleven Gana Kumari along with Tibukchhe Kumari, Agam goddess

(lineage deity) of Maka cast who needs to be infant one, also gather with Ekanta Kumari and

Wane Lyaku Kumari in Kumari Chhe” (personal interview, Sep. 15, 2018). He further explains, “The Gana Kumaris incorporate two gods, Ganesh and Vairab, and nine goddesses who represent the Nawadurga deities. And in the list of nine Gana Kumaris, there is another

Kumari named Bal Kumari, who is brought from Thimi Bahal. All of them gather there from early morning and devotees also come there to worship and offer them” (personal interview,

Sep. 15, 2018). Then after, they are taken to Chasukhel Tole for worshipping where the

Tibukchhe Kumari is not displayed publicly, rather taken to their Agam as she is lineage goddess of Maka caste. In Chasukhel also, all the Kumaris stay for the Puja and offering for some time. Then after, all the Gana Kumaris are taken to Taleju but Wane Lyaku Kumari is

26 taken back to her residence. All the Gana Kumaris are worshipped in the Taleju temple courtyard but Ekanta Kumari is worshipped separately along with Taleju goddess together, which is regarded as the special one.

Jushi Naike Joshi in “Shri Kumari Puja ra Kumari Chhanaut Bidhi” mentions, “A team with the musical band from Taleju comes to Chasukhel Tole to honor and receive

Ekanta Kumari. In the process of taking her to Taleju, she is carried by Jushi Nayo. Before him, the team is led by Pujari Nayo (Rajopadhyaya Bramhin) who moves forward by holding a sword”(44). He further states in the interview, “At the time of Kumari entering into Taleju,

Nawa Baja Bhajan team plays music. The Nawa Baja Bhajan team comprises twenty people from different castes – such as – Ga:hiti Joshi, Pakwan, Sinbanjar, Khinbanjar, etc. After entering into the Taleju premises, she is welcome by Achaju Priests” (personal interview,

Sep. 29, 2018).

She is taken to Kumari Chowk and she is worshipped but the worshipping is done very secretly, only with the presence of four Taleju preists – Mule Naike (Joshi), Pujari Naike

(Rajopadhyaya) and two Achaju (Karmacharya) priests. The Puja is led by Mule Naike. Mule

Naike Joshi stated, “Because of the oath of secrecy, we can not reveal anything about the worshipping” (personal interview, Sep. 29, 2018).

On the day of Bijaya Dashmi, Kumari is taken to Brahmhayani temple early morning.

She washes her eyes at Bramhayani River and goes around the temple where masks of

Nawadurga goddesses are displayed. Then after, she returns from there. On the way back, she stays at Suryamadhi square to receive the puja for some time. Pujari Naike Joshi answeres in the interview,

The legacy of State Head worshiping to Goddess Kumari is still maintained. On the

day of Kojagrat Purnima, the last day of Dashain, the head of the state (President)

visit to Nawadurga temple for worshipping and having blessing from the goddess

27 Nawadurga. On the very occasion, the head of the state also receives Goddess

Kumari’s ‘blessings and Prasad’ through Jushi Nayo’s hand. (personal interview, Sep.

29, 2018)

To be Kumari, the girl should not have broken any tooth. Similarly, her body should not bear any kind of scares and bruises. After choosing the girl as Kumari, the Kumari girl is not allowed to eat hen’s egg and chicken from the very date of becoming Kumari to till her retirement. During Kumari festival in Dashain, she needs to be confined within the Kumari

Chhe, she is not allowed to go out of Kumari Chhe. So, she even needs to leave her family.

Similarly, Pujari Naike Joshi elaborates further rules, “She is prohibited to touch dog and cross the river during Kumari Avatar in Dashain. And she needs to be only with the Kumari attire. If she needs to go out of valley and away from Banepa-Panauti, she needs to inform to concerned authorities (Guthi Sansthan and Jushi Naike)” (personal interview, Sep. 29, 2018).

Finally, the fourth chapter sums up the preceding two chapters drawing the patterns of changes and difficulties occurred in Ekanta Kumari girl's life at the time of transition, and also stresses on the communal roles at her such juncture.

Kumari tradition was initiated in the medieval period. In the then society, it was started to create the harmony between the dominant two religious sects namely Hinduism and

Buddhism. In this sense, Kumari tradition was the tool of the then ruler to create religious integration in the society. In this regard, Kumari is the common goddess for both Hindu and

Buddhist, whose power has created the religious tolerance and coexistence between the two religious sects. Michael Allen has also observed the same idea. He states in "Introduction" ofThe Cult of Kumari: Virgin Worship in Nepal, “The girls who are to become living forms of classic Hindu deities are in fact selected from Buddhist castes. Since the chief of such deities was Taleju, the source of King’s political power, it is evident that the Newar

28 Buddhists, by offering their girls as candidates, are thereby acknowledging the king’s right to rule them” (12). Thus this research work contributes to acknowledge the bridge for the gaps existing among the different cultural backgrounds in order to keep social integrity. Similarly, it also makes us aware about the role of family and community in individual's transitional phase.

29 Chapter - 2

Communitas and Ekanta Kumari

Sajani Shakya thinks about her Kumari life – “Kumari is the living goddess and experience of the Kumari life is the best moment of my life and every moment of the Kumari time was very special and unforgettable for me" (Personal interview, Sep. 22, 2018). The ex-

Ekanta Kumari (2056 B.S.-2064 B.S.) remarks about her Ekanta Kumari experience.

Sajani Shakya was born in 2054 B.S. in Prashannashil Mahabihar, Bhaktapur, where Kumari Chhen of Bhaktapur is located. She is the fourth child of her parents

– Nhuchhe Ratna Shakya and Rukmani

Shakya, who have been serving in Kumari

Chhe as Kumari caretaker for around twenty two years. Sajani Shakya was chosen for

Ekanta Kumari at the early age of two. That is the reason; Sajani even did not understand and feel anything about Kumari at that time.

Then when she realized about self at the age Picture 3: Sajani in Ekanta Kumari Avatar of five or six, she was at the throne of Ekanta Kumari and she was being worshipped by the devotees. That made her feel very special that she was an inborn goddess.

She had two lives – life of Ekanta Kumari and life of an ordinary girl - during the time of installation to retirement of Kumari (2056 B.S. to 2064 BS.). During the time, her primary life was the life of Ekanta Kumari. She had to live this goddessly life only during the time of

Dashain, whereas in the rest of the time, it was time to live the ordinary life. It means the life

30 of a general girl is longer than Ekanta Kumari life. She shares the differences between the

Kumari life in Dashain and other normal time, “During Dashain, I had to wear only the red

Kumari dress and jewelries along with the makeup of the goddess. And I could not go outside of the Kumari Chhe Premises. In the Kumari Chhe as well, most of my time passed in blessing the devotees by sitting in the Kumari Asan or throne” (personal interview, Sep. 22,

2018). She further states, “But the other time was very easy and normal. I could go anywhere and do anything. I was just like any other girl. Every day I used to go to my school and go outside to play. I was not bounded to wear any particular dress; rather

I was free to wear the dress” (personal interview Sep. 22, 2018,).

As the rules do not bound, she did not need to be captivated only within Picture 4: Sajani after having chosenKumari (2056 B.S.) the four walls of the Kumari Chhe. She not only enjoyed the golden experience of

Kumrihood, along with that she also enjoyed freedom of ordinary life.

There is no rule for her to be bounded within Kumari Chhe and be in Kumari attire all the time. So there were no differences between any other girl’s life and Sajani’s, except in

Dashain. She went to school and played with friends by going out as other normal children did. She expresses about her ordinary life during her Ekanta Kumari tenure, "I used to go to school, play badminton and other games with my friends and visit different places" (Personal interview, Sep. 22, 2018).

31 In different occasions, Sajani’s parents visited different places during her

Kumarihood. Sajani’s mother

Rukmani claims, “We used to go to visit different places like

Manakamana and Palanchowk

Bhagwati - for different purposes. At that time, we also took her together with us as we could not leave her alone here” Picture 5: Sajani after Dashain (personal interview, Sep. 15, 2018). Similarly Sajani also admits by saying, “My parents frequently took me various places from my childhood. I was taken to Tatopani time and again by my parents. Similarly they also took me to Manakamana, Palanchowk and other places. I also used to go to my maternal uncle’s house which is in Barhabise” (personal interview, Sep.

22, 2018). She further mentions, “I could not cross the bridge only during the time of Dashain when I had to be in Kumari Avatar. In other time, I was not bounded, rather I could go anywhere” (personal interview, Sep. 22, 2018).

She was the only Kumari who experienced the foreign tour even during the Kumari tenure. She went to the United States of America (USA) for the inauguration of the documentary entitled The Living Goddess in June, 2007 (2063 B.S.). The documentary was made by British citizen named Marc Hawker. It was shot in Bhaktapur Kumari Chhen premises.

In the normal time, she is not treated differently from any other normal girls in the family, school and friend circle. But in the Dashain time, she is ascended to goddess position and all the people including family members, friends and even other elder people regard her goddess.

32 It was the year 2064 B.S. that Sajani faced the harshest situation, her age reached at the climax for the Ekanta Kumari role. As soon as Sajani became eleven years, she received the retirement letter from Guthi Sansthan as the rule had been set - either resign voluntarily or terminate from the post at the age of eleven years. She was not ready to resign. She thought that she could never be terminated. As she had become Ekanta Kumari very young age of two, she never knew that she had to leave the throne of the deity one day. So, she was not ready to leave the post and she thought that all the possessions belonging to Kumari were her own.

Picture 6: Coverage of Sajani's US visit by abc channel At Dashain in 2064, Shreeya Bajracharya, six years, was replaced at the Ekanta

Kumari post. Sajani could not see any other girl sitting at Ekanta Kumari throne and wearing

Kumari dress and jewelries. So, she cried a lot. She could not be consoled although all the elders tried. In this instance, everyone was tired off giving the convincing reason behind her retirement. During the time she was persistently repeating that her place could not be

33 replaced and no one could wear her Kumari dress and jewelries. Then her parents decided to keep her away far from Kumari Chhe in order to not getting of glimpses of Kumari and related rituals. At this point, she was also ready to leave Kumari Chhe.

Sajani Shakya is a staff nurse at present. She works in Medicity Hospital. She is twenty one years of age. She thinks about herself, “I am a girl like any other girl” (Personal interview, Sep. 22, 2018). She shares about her present days living, “If I need to do any fun and visit anywhere, I do these activities with my colleagues from the hospital. I do not have more friends here. It is because, I was shifted to the hostel immediately after the retirement at the age of eleven and I could not make any friends here” (Personal interview, Sep. 22, 2018).

In this regard, she does not have the good friend circle in Bhaktapur. So she spends time either with family or alone. Furthermore she states, “I do not have any divine power which

Picture 7: Sajani Shakya (front) staying with colleagues at Medicity Hospital

34 makes my job easy, I possessed only during the time of the divine period. So as any other normal girl, I feel difficult to go to hospital early and return home late” (Personal interview,

Sep. 22, 2018).

Sajani Shakya’s Ekanta Kumari tenure, 2056 B. S. – 2064 B. S., was remembered as historic period. During her tenure, various things occurred and changes became possible in the Nepalese political scenario. All these political changes occurred, and national- international activists and media intervened the tradition to break. But because of the local

Guthis and people’s strong faith and devotion to the tradition, it happened to continue.

The vacant post of Ekanta Kumari throne was fulfilled by placing Sajani Shakya,

Kumari caretakers’ daughter, as Ekanta Kumari in the year 2056 B. S., the Maoist movement was at its pick at the time. The Maoists were trying to uproot the old values, system and tradition. So, the Kumari tradition was also their target as it was associated with religion and

Monarchy. During the time the whole state mechanisms, especially security forces like police and army, were fighting against the Maoist rebellions.

During her Ekanta Kumari tenure, different national and international non- governmental organizations were also inclined to the tradition. They were mostly concerned about the Kumari girls’ rights. They had the impression that the Kumari girls would be kept imprisoned in the name of religion and they would be deprived from all the rights. They would be neither sent to the school nor free to do anything. And after their retirement they would be supposedly not to do marriage because of the belief of the probable death of would be husband. So these NGOs/INGOs were also raising their voices against the tradition. From their perspective, the girls were misused in the name of religion and tradition.

The women Rights Activists and women parliamentarians also initiated their campaign to stop the tradition. They regarded that the practice marred the human rights and

35 girls’ rights. In the name of religion and culture, the girl had to sacrifice their lives. The then

Parliamentarians in the leadership of Bidhya Devi Bhandari raised the voice in the parliament then. Chiara Letizia in “Shaping Secularism through the Judiciary in Nepal: Case Studies from the Kathmandu Supreme Court” states, “Since 2002, the tradition of the living goddess has been confronted by the activists campaigning for the rights of women and children, and asking for its abolition” (197). She further reveals about Parliamentarian Bhandari’s assumption, “In September 2002, a member of parliament, Bidhya Bhandari, had urged that the Kumari tradition be abolished, as a violation of women rights. In 2004, the Committee for the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women made the same recommendation in a report to the UN General Assembly (CEDAW 2004)” (197).

Similarly, women rights activist Pundevi Maharjan filed the case in the Supreme

Court against the tradition.Chiara Letizia in "Shaping Secularism through the Judiciary in

Nepal: Case Studies from the Kathmandu Supreme Court” mentions, “In 2005, a Newar human rights lawyer, Pun Devi Maharjan, filed a petitrion asking the court to intervene in the tradition of Kumar, so as to protect their child rights (Maharjan, 2005)” (197).

After Pundevi Maharjan filing the case, the Court was formally involved in the dispute. To address the situation, the Court ordered the government to form the research committee to study the state of the incumbent Kumaris. The order is compiled in Pun Devi

Maharjan v GoN, Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and Others, Supreme

Court of Nepal, 2008, “This court, therefore, constituted a committee as mentioned below with a mandate to study those issues and submit a report on them within three months” (115).

After the Court’s order, the government formed the Research Committee to study the prevalent Kumaris’ situation in the coordination of Jalkrishna Shrestha, vice-secretary of

Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Ministry. The other members were Pundevi Maharjan

36 and Chunda Bajracharya, Culture Expert. They submitted their report after the detailed study to the court. The report documented in Pun Devi Maharjan v GoN, Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and Others, Supreme Court of Nepal, 2008 reveals, “Nonetheless, it seems that none was found to have been appointed as a Kumari either by compelling the concerned girl or her family or against their will” (118).

After the submission of the detailed study report from Research Committee, Supreme

Court gave its verdict. In its verdict compiled in Pun Devi Maharjan v GoN, Office of Prime

Minister and Council of Ministers and Others, Supreme Court of Nepal, 2008, the court mentions, “Kumaris don’t have to do any work for anyone. Since the custom of Kumari seems to have been developed for the purpose of offering ‘puja’ (worship) treating girls as a living godesses, and since the Kumaris are seen to only accept the ‘puja’ and devotion of the devotees the custom of Kumari does not seem to have infringed any rights of children” (130).

In the year June, 2007 (2063 B.S.), Sajani Shakya was invited to America to attend the program premier of the documentary film The Living Goddess based on her life. Her

America visit gave her international recognition. She became the headline of national and international Medias. Along with her presence in the international platform, the international community also became aware of Kumari tradition in Nepal. She became more controversial when her post was sacked by the religious leaders. She was reinstated only after the pressure from the public and the Medias. Her visit was reported in CNN.com with the title

“Controversy? Nepal's 'goddess' prefers instant noodles”, "Sajani hit world headlines this month as some religious authorities threatened to strip her of her "living goddess" title after she visited the United States to promote a British-made film about her life."

After the case filed against the tradition and Sajani’s America visit, the attention of the national and international Medias were drawn towards the Kumari girls. They showed

37 their sympathy toward the Kumari girls. Because of the news coverage of the national and international Medias, the general public happened to develop the sentiment towards the

Kumari girls. All these media activities also gave the pressure to the government and the concerned authorities for reviewing the practice.

The religious leaders were in the close connection with the palace. As goddess

Kumari was supposedly the patron goddess of the King, there used to be the direct connection of the King and the Living Goddess. After the accomplishment of April uprising in 2006, the

Girija Prasad Koirala led cabinet ceased all the monarch’s power including religious and cultural power, because of that the King could not attend any religious and cultural ceremonies. Furthermore, After the establishment of republic on 8 May, 2008, there was the permanent disso iation between the monark and the Kumari goddess. Here the interesting fact is that although the king was compalled to leave the royal palace, the Kumari tradition was continued.

After the mainstreaming of Maoist Party in Nepali politics; there was an attempt to abolish Kumari tradition by stating it as the associated element of Monarchy and outdated.

Janardan Sharma, one of the Maoist leaders, views the tradition irrelevance, which was cited in “Nepal: Girl First, Goddess Later” published in Asia Senitel. It is stated, “"Nepalis decided to abolish the monarchy. We need to abolish all institutions associated with the crown. There is no need for Kumaris, Jhumas or Deukis.” The tradition has been strongly rooted to ritual, culture and daily life style of people of Kathmandu Valley; especially Newars. So, people have not stopped it celebrating.

In this regard, at the time of Maoist government, the then finance Minister tried to halt the financial support to the Kumari tradition. It is mentioned in David Gellner’s “Review of

'Living Goddess' a film by Ishbel Whitaker”, “Then in October 2008 the new Maoist Finance

38 Minister, the Marxist ideologist Baburam Bhattarai, announced that the government would not be subsidizing festivals such as Dasain and Indra Jatra that cost so much, that indeed, as a secular and religiously non-aligned government, it could not do so” (90). But his attempt was not successful because of the local Newars’ strong protest.

After the successful people's movement against the Monarchy (April uprising) in

Baishakh, 2063, there was the reestablishment of the Parliament and the Maoists were also mainstreamed through the parliament, which ceased all the Royal power and also announced the country as Secular. The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly declared Nepal as

Republic on Jestha 15, 2064. In the same year, Sajani Shakya was also retired from her job of

Ekanta Kumari as she became eleven then.

The cultural experts effortlessly attempted to preserve the Kumari tradition. Chunda

Bajracharya came forefront to defend the case filed against the tradition. Similarly the local

Newars and Guthi people were also mobilized spontaneously whenever they got obstruction in continuity of the tradition. They came to the road to protest the then Maoist government's policy of halting the tradition. However, they even continued the tradition even after the declaration of Republic.

The tradition has been continued only because of people’s desire and devotion to the goddess Kumari. They face each adverse situation but do not compromise in stopping the tradition rather they accept the President in place of the King. Similarly, they improvise the tradition even to empower the Kumari girl. In this regard, Ekanta Kumari tradition is the most flexible one. This chapter concerns with a few questions - How could the goddess exist within the human body? What sort of changes occurs within the newly appointed Kumari?

Does the psychological state remain same after the termination? What role does the community play in such changed situation?

39 In Kumari rituals, the young girl is chosen as new Ekanta Kumari after the retirement of the incumbent Kumari. The reason behind is that it is easier way to transmit the rituals and cultures in her mind as her mind is like the blank sheet of paper. That helps to adjust the girl in the ritual process. In this regard, Victor Turner’s remark is remarkable. He states in

‘Liminality and Communitas’, “The neophyte in liminality must be a tabula rasa, a blank slate, on which is inscribed the knowledge and wisdom of the group, in those respects that pertain to the new status” (103). At this point, Sajani Shakya’s remark is justifiable. Sajani expresses about her transformation from pre-Kumari to Kumari life, "I did not know anything about how and why I was selected Ekanta Kumari as I was very young child that time. When

I started realizing about self around the age of five, I was in the throne of Ekanta Kumari.

Then I started thinking goddess myself”(personal interview, Sept. 22, 2018). Sajani’s mother reveals, “I asked to Narendra Joshi if my daughter would be appointed in the vacant post of

Ekanta Kumari that time. After his consent, she became Kumari at the very early age"

(Personal interview, Sep. 15, 2018). Sajani's instance reveals that the recruiting to the Ekanta

Kumari post helps to carry on the tradition smoothly.

The ordinary girl from Shakya caste is chosen as Ekanta Kumari, the living goddess, and she is even worshipped by the head of the state assuming her as the patron goddess. In

Turner’s views, the inferior figure succeeds to the supreme figure and the state authority becomes the devotee to the figure in liminality. So, he further exerts in ‘Liminality and

Communitas’, “In liminality, the underlying comes uppermost. Second, the supreme political authority is portrayed "as a slave," recalling that aspect of the coronation of a pope in western-Christendom when he is called upon to be the "serous servorum Dei" (102). It is exactly the similar case in the liminality of Ekanta Kumari rituals, which occurred in Sajani

Shakya's time. At this point, Rukmani Shakya's view is remarkable, "As per the ritual, Sajani was transformed into the goddess after acceding to the throne of Ekanta Kumari and all the

40 people started worshipping her" (personal interview, Sept. 15, 2018). That is to say, ordinary

Sajani was chosen as goddess Ekanta Kumari, thentransformed her status remained no more ordinary.

As the living goddess Ekanta Kumari, the Shakya girl, needs to be separated from the society and family during the festival time - Dashain. She is regarded as the higher deity in the society. In this regard, the festival Dashain itself is the liminal phase for the Kumari girl, where the transition occurs - moving to Kumari Ghar from home and leaving the Kumari

Ghar for home.

The society empowers the Ekanta Kumari girl by regarding and worshipping her as the goddess and she also invokes and experiences the divine power.That is what Victor

Turner has mentioned in 'Liminality and Communitas', "The powers that shape the neophytes in liminality for the incumbency of new status are felt, in rites all over the world, to be more than human powers, though they are invoked and channeled by the representatives of the community” (106). Sajani Shakya also has the same type of experience as she shares, “I felt the goddess invoked within me during the time of puja in Taleju. After the puja when I came out from Taleju Temple, I came to the normal state and did not remember anything about the activities in the Temple” (personal interview,Sep. 22, 2018). Similarly, Rukmani Shakya, current Kumamang, has experienced many times that the goddess invoked into Ekanta

Kumari as the Kumari caretaker. She states, “Because of the invoking goddess into her, nothing happened to her although she remained fast whole day in order to receive the puja from the devotees even in such a young age” (personal interview,Sep. 15, 2018). Along with that, she is also regarded by all in the society. That is to say, she represents both human being and goddess (mortal and immortal), who gets the power from the society as well as divinity.

During the Ekanta Kumari phase, Sajani was governed by the ritualistic rules. At the time of Kumari Avatar at Dashain, she had to be restricted within the Kumari house and she

41 was permited to wear red dress and traditional jewelries, touch the dog and cross the river. In her whole Ekanta Kumari Tenure, she was not allowed to eat hen’s egg and meat. To these features of rules, Victor Turner identifies as liminality. He states in “Liminal to Liminoid, in

Play, Flow, and Ritual: An Essay in Comparative Symbology”,

Thus the ritual subjects in these rites undergo a “leveling” process, in which signs of

their preliminal status are destroyed and signs of their liminal non-status applied. I

have mentioned certain indicators of their liminality – absence of clothing and names

– other signs include eating or not eating specific foods, disregard of personal

appearance, the uniform clothing, sometimes irrespective of sex. In mid transition the

initiands are pushed as far toward uniformity, structural invisibility, and anonymity as

possible. (26)

Here, Turner's position is that the subject has to adopt the new rules after the liminal transformation. Rukmani shares the rules that sajani has followed, “She was not allowed to eat chicken and hen’s egg during the Kumari period. Similarly, she could not touch dog, wear shoes and cross the bridge during the Kumari life atDashain. But in other normal time, she was free from all these rules except eating hen’s meat and egg” (personal interview, Sep. 15,

2018). Furthermore she had to take the permission of authorities to go out of Kathmandu valley. It means that after the retirement from the Ekanta Kumari post, she was no more bounded to these rules.

In the liminal process of Ekanta Kumari, the incumbent Ekanta Kumari generally resigns at the age of eleven for her further Newari rituals like Ihi to accomplish. Then after, new Ekanta Kumari girl is to be searched. In this process of leaving and becoming Ekanta

Kumari, different conflicts occur – such as, conflict in the adjustment of retiring Kumari. At this point, Victor Turner has given the reference of the Ndembu culture, “Here I merely indicate that among the Ndembu there is a close connection between social conflict and ritual

42 at the levels of village and " vicinage” (a term I use for discrete clusters of villages), and that a multiplicity of conflict situations is correlated with a high frequency of ritual performance”

(10). Turner attempts to show how ritual creates conflict in Ndembu society when the liminal phase is not addressed. The instance is applied in Ekanta Kumari tradition, Sajani Shakya could not tolerate the new Kumari as she saw the new one using the ornaments which she had been used solely. In the same way, Rukmani, Sajani’s mother who is Kumamang as well, narrates the events of the time,

In the case of Sajani, we felt difficult situation as she was not ready for the retirement.

It was a kind of forceful departure and there was no option as well. It is because; there

is the rule that the Kumari girl has to be departed from the Kumari post by taking

retirement at the age of eleven. It is the appropriate age as well, because in our Newari

rituals we need to do Ihi and Bahra Taegu ceremonies even before girl’s first period.

That is why Sajani had to take the retirement at that time although she was not agreed.

(personal interview, Sep. 15, 2018)

Sajani’s forceful retirement was the result of not preparing her for future situation and lack of proper counseling.She had the mindset that her position could not be taken by anyone but the ritualistic rule was to leave at the age of eleven. The mismatched of her thought and ritual created the conflict.

After being selected as EkantaKumari, she rules out certain period of time as the living goddess till the retirement. The transition occurs in the retirement, which is the fragile state for her and she completely transforms from holy figure into mortal one. In other terms, it can be described as descending of goddess to girl, where the status becomes normal. In such transformed status, she has to abandon all her privileges – such as, she is no more associated with the politics as the head of the state does not regard her any more, her

43 allowances also decreases on her behalf of economic privileges from the state or her social status also changes from the living deity to any other normal girl. On the other hand, the newly appointing Ekanta Kumari becomes transformed from normal girl to divinity. So, there is the liminal mode in the rituals of Ekanta Kumari, where the process of ascending to immortal and descending to mortal occurs. Victor Turner highlights the same aspects in

‘Liminality and Communitas’:

The point I would like to stress here is that there is a certain homology between the

“weakness" and "passivity” of liminality in diachronic transitions between states and

statuses, and the "structural" or synchronic inferiority of certain personae, groups, and

social categories in political, legal, and economic systems. The "liminal" and the

"inferior" conditions are often associated with ritual powers and with the total

community seen as undifferentiated. (99-100)

Turner stresses on the transition where the person loses his or her all statuses and all powers.In the same way, Sajani clarifies more, “I was sad of dethroning. Then I told my parents either to continue me as goddess Kumari or to take me away from Kumari Chhe.Then

I was taken to hostel and shifted my school from Mount Valley School in Bhaktapur to Little

Angels in Lalitpur” (personal interview, Sep. 22, 2018). She further illustrates about cosequences of her liminal phase,

I studied there for around five years. Every Dashain I used to come back home but

every time I could not be happy, because whenever I happened to see the incumbent

Kumari goddess, I had the feeling of jealousy. It’s true that I am still jealous about the

present Kumari and I still desire to be the goddess. Maybe because of that, I do not

have feeling to bow down and touch the toes of the present goddess and I have never

done that till yet. (personal interview, Sept. 22, 2018)

44 That is to say, the newly appointed Ekanta Kumari became transformed from normal girl to divinity. So, there is the liminal mode in the rituals of Ekanta Kumari, where the process of ascending to immortal and descending to mortal occurs. But Sajani's view shows that she was totally dissatisfied in her retirement, which was the matter of conflict even for Turner.

Similarly, she needs to be Kumari every year during the time of Dashain but in the normal time she stays with family like any other normal girl. As it occurs every year, it becomes the cyclic process.

In this regard, it is to be said that two ways of liminality occurs in the Kumari ritual – firstly, transition of a normal girl to Ekanta Kumari who is institution in herself and secondly, cyclic occurrence of liminality in the regular installation of Ekanta Kumari after the retirement of the incumbent one, and having Ekanta Kumari avatar every year during Dashain and being normal in other time. Victor Turner puts his idea forward in "Humility and

Hierarchy: The Liminality of Status Elevation and Reversal" with the reflection of the same idea,

I wish to distinguish two main types of liminality—though many others will

undoubtedly be discovered - first, the liminality that characterizes rituals of status

elevation, in which the ritual subject or novice is being conveyed irreversibly from a

lower to a higher position in an institutionalized system of such positions.(167)

Here Turner's proposition is matched with the Ekanta Kumari tradition asafter the retirement of the incumbent Ekanta Kumari, the New Kumari is needed to be installed. The New Kumai needs to fulfill all the requirements. After choosing the appropriate girl to be Ekanta Kumari, she is ascended to the Ekanta Kumari post. Taleju priest Joshi states,"In the journey from a normal girl to the living goddess avatar in 2054 B.S., Sajani got transformation in herself.She became institutionalized and recognized as the living goddess by the state institutions and

45 stakeholders" (personal interview, Sept. 29, 2018).In this process, liminality is observed in the mobility of the young Shakya girl from the normal state to divinity. In the same way, choosing the New Ekanta Kumari after the retirement of the incumbent Kumari is the regular process. That is to say, the throne of Ekanta Kumari is supposedly not to remain vacant.

In the same way, Turner reveals the second type of liminality as calendrical one. He states,

Secondly the liminality frequently found in cyclical and calendrical ritual, usually of a

collective kind, in which, at certain culturally defined points in the seasonal cycle,

groups or categories of persons who habitually occupy low status positions in the

social structure are positively enjoined to exercise ritual authority over their superiors;

and they, in their turn, must accept with good will their ritual degradation. Such rites

may be described as rituals of status reversal. They are often accompanied by robust

verbal and nonverbal behavior, in which inferiors revile and even physically maltreat

superiors. (167)

He further illustrates on the second form of cyclic liminal states which occurs in the period basis. This type of liminality is realized in Sajani's revelation, "As a tradition, I went to

Kumari residence at Dashain and returned home to the normal life after Dashain" (personal interview, Sept. 22, 2018). The same thing occurred every year till the end of her tenure in

2064 B.S.

Sajani Shakya faced the experience of two different liminal phases. In the liminal phase of succeeding the throne was easy one as she became Ekanta Kumari at very young age. On the other hand, the later phase of departing was painful to her. As per the rules, she was compelled to leave the post with her maturity. Because of her attachment with the Ekanta

Kumari life, she still feels jealous to see the present Ekanta Kumari girl and she still thinks

46 that the Ekanta Kumari dress and jewelries possess her. Sajani’s such difficulties are the consequences of liminality. In this regard, Victor Turner analyses that lininality involves complexity. He illustrates in “Liminal to Liminoid, in Play, Flow, and Ritual: An Essay in

Comparative Symbology”,

Liminality may involve a complex sequence of episodes in sacred space-time, and

may also include subversive and ludic (or playful) events. The factors of culture are

isolated, in so far as it is possible to do this with multivocal symbols (i.e. with the aid

of symbol-vehicles –sensorily perceptible forms) such as trees, images, paintings,

dance forms, etc., that are each susceptible not of a single meaning but of many

meanings. (27)

When the liminality occurs in case of an individual, then the person shows his or her dissatisfaction to the ritual process through different means.In the same way,Sajani reacts over her retirement from Ekanta Kumari,

I was not ready to leave the Kumari post, because I thought that no one could take my

post of Kumari goddess. And all the dresses and jewelries were mine and I could not

see any other wearing my dresses and ornaments. So it was difficult to bear and I

cried a lot, even no one could control and console me. (personal interview, Sep. 22,

2018)

Here it seems that she has become accustomed with the ritual practice and belongings, so she has shown her dissatisfaction.

Sajani Shakya’s transitional period was just for short term but it was very crucial one.

Actually, at that time she thought that her life was spoilt after relieving her from her Ekanta

Kumari job. She still thinks that the Ekanta Kumari time was her best time in her life. In the same way, Victor Turner states in “Liminal to Liminoid, in Play, Flow, and Ritual: An Essay

47 in Comparative Symbology”, “Liminality is a temporal interface whose properties partially invert those of the already consolidated order which constitutes any specific cultural

“cosmos”” (41).It means, the liminal phase is just short but it descends from a sacred one to the normal human being. Here, Sajani had also the same kind of experience. Rukmani Shakya states, "Sajani had the feeling that there would be the different perspective towards her after the retirement and she would not be remained sacred" (personal interview, Sept. 15, 2018).

After her liminal process to her post Ekanta Kumari, she has become the normal one and no more sacred.

Sajani did not want to leave the Ekanta Kumari post although she was eleven years and matured enough. She developed a kind of thought of ownership towards the Goddess post. She was afraid to leave the ownership and was not ready to handover the post to another girl. All these thoughts hindered her to shift from Ekanta Kumari to post Ekanta Kumari. And there was another pertinent question for her how to face the new Ekanta Kumari girl. To this sort of situation, Victor Turnor views, “In preliminary rites of separation the initiand is moved from the indicative quotidian social structure into the subjunctive by liminal experiences, by the rites of reaggregation to social structural participation in the indicative mood” (83). In other words, the post liminal phase is managed by addressing the wishes and moods of the individual. In the same way, how difficult it was to convince Sajani in

Rukmani's words, "We tried hard to console her for the retirement. At last, she told that if had to leave the post, then she would leave far away from Kumari house and the rituals. And we agreed and took her to hostel in Lalitapur" (personal interview, Sept. 15, 2018).The instance of Sajani and Turner's proposition show that the liminal phase can be easier to manage if the luminal person's moods and desired are managed.

In Ekanta Kumari tradition, it is to be observed that the whole society regards the goddess Ekanta Kumari, though there are various sects like Hindu and Buddhist. Similarly it

48 has been patronized by the state, so it correlates with the political institution like head of the state. In this regard, Victor Turner in “Planes of Classification in a Ritual of Life and Death” states,

In the social sciences generally, it is, I think, becoming widely recognized that

religious beliefs and practices are something more than “grotesque” reflections or

expressions of economic, political, and social relationships; rather are they coming to

be seen as decisive keys to the understanding of how people think and feel about

those relationships, and about the natural and social environments in which they

operate. (6)

At this point, Turner sees the relationship of the ritual practices and economic, political and social mechanism of the state. That is what we can also observe in the Ekanta Kumari tradition. Narendra Joshi states, "Sajani was the the sacred entity not only for the people, rather the head of the state also came to receive the blessings and Prasad on the full moon lay of Dashain. She was also given the monetary allowances" (personal interview, Sept. 29,

2018). It has still been continued as an Ex-Kumari. That is to say, the social, political and economic relationship with Ekanta Kumari tradition conserves it.

The social involvement in the liminality of Ekanta Kumari rituals help the Kumari girl to be adjusted in the society.It occurs twice in the Ekanta Kumari tradition - throning and dethroning times. In this regard, Victor Turner in “Liminality and Communitas” has also put his idea forward that the liminality in rituals is followed by communitas, where communitas occurs in the dual form - after the departure and with the incumbent after installing the new one,

The pedagogics of liminality, therefore, represents a condemnation of two kinds of

separation from the generic bond of communitas. The first kind is to act only in terms

49 of the rights conferred on one by the incumbency of office in the social structure. The

second is to follow one's psychobiological urges at the expense of one's fellows. A

mystical character is assigned to the sentiment of humankindness in most types of

liminality, and in most cultures this stage of transition is brought closely in touch with

beliefs in the protective and punitive powers of divine or preterhuman beings or

powers. (105)

Here Turner states that communitas involves twice - firstly at the time of ascending to the divinity and secondly at the time of leaving the divinity. Then the person feels divine power as the community regards it. Similarly, he feels with emotion and sensibilities at the time of departure but the community consoles and adjusts him.The same thing happened to Sajani in her Kumari time. She states,"The first adjustrment occurred after choosing me in the post of

Ekanta Kumari. The job was easier for me as her parents were the Ekanta Kumari care takers and I was allowed to enjoy the freedom of going out, playing, having education, etc."

(personal interview, Sept. 22, 2018). She further states,"After the retirement from Ekanta

Kumari, I got difficulties in adjustment. Ibecame emotionally weakened. My family and communityhelped me to be normal and took me to hostel as per my request" (personal interview, Sept. 22, 2018). She further explains that she was not treated extraordinarily in the school and in the outside world that also has helped her to be normal. As Turner's view and

Sajani's experience become similar, both the family and the society play the crucial role to bring the liminality in normality.

In the tradition of Ekanta Kumari rituals, the sense of communitas has been practiced from the time of its initiation. In the tradition, people from all social groups represent and they are given the role accordingly. This gives the sense of equality in the society, which has created the situation of harmony. People from all levels participate with equal footing. The ritual tradition is patronized by the state. So, the state provides all the necessary things. At

50 this point, Victor Turner states in “Liminality and Communitas”, “Here I would merely recall some of the properties of liminality in tribal rituals that I mentioned earlier. Many of these correspond pretty closely with those of millenarian movements: homogeneity, equality, anonymity, absence of property” (111).Here Turner uses the term 'millenarian movement' to refer the fundamental transformation of the society, which is possible through equality and equal sense of ownership. The same thing is applicable in Ekanta Kumari tradition.Narendra

Joshi, present Pujari Naike of Taleju, states, “The transformation from monarchy to republicanism occurred in her term but the state patronization was still continued as before the republican time the palace and after the republican time Guthi Sansthan have facilitated for the necessary items like financial, dresses, etc.” (personal interview, Sep. 29, 2018).

Along with that, this has also provided good position to woman – such as supreme position of

Kumari girl and the role of Kumamang. Similarly, there are different associated groups which have been running through Guthi, local association; and each Guthi possesses land and common property to run the rituals, which is the common property of all members.

The present harmonious transition of Pre-Kumari to Kumari and Kumari to Post-

Kumari becomes possible only because of its long time practice. Similarly, the age old tradition has brought the harmonious relationship between the religious sects like Hindu and

Buddhist, and among different social groups and classes. As all the components are the important ingredients to run the tradition, it is to be said that the same harmonious situation would be maintained even in the future through the Kumari rituals. At this point, Durga

Shakya’s remark is very significant. She sates in “The Tradition of Kumari Puja”, “This tradition regarded as one of the finest examples of the intermingling of Buddhist and Hindu practices characteristic of Kathmandu valley culture and is known the world over as ‘living goddess worship’” (210). Victor Turner has stated the same notion in ‘Liminality and

Communitas’, “Communitas is of the now; structure is rooted in the past and extends into the

51 future through language, law, and custom” (113). That is to say, present is associated with the past and future with the present, which are conjoined through rituals and customs. Pujari

Naike Joshi stresses, “Ekanta Kumari tradition brings two religions – Hinduism and

Buddhism - at the same point. Sajani was worshipped by both Hindu and Buddhist by regarding goddess" (personal interview, Sep. 29, 2018).This has created the religious harmony and situation of coexistence, which was initiated in the past and continued through the Ekanta Kumari tradition.

Kumari rituals narrow down the gaps among the people. As all the social groups have specialized and dignified role during the ritual, the matter of upper and lower strata become blurred. Turner thinks it is not possible through the formal norms and institutions. So, he states further in ‘Liminality and Communitas’,

Communitas breaks in through the interstices of structure, in liminality; at the edges

of structure, in marginality; and from beneath structure, in inferiority. It is almost

everywhere held to be sacred or "holy," possibly because it transgresses or dissolves

the norms that govern structured and institutionalized relationships and is

accompanied by experiences of unprecedented potency. (128)

Communitas is the means to resolve all the unparalleled structures and situations. For instance, the head priest of Taleju Joshi at Bhaktapur states, “All the people worship the living goddess along with the head of the state. Every ritual group like Kasai Nayo, Suwa

Nayo, priests, Kumari girl, Caretaker family, etc. have their own specialized role in order to run the tradition” (personal interview, Sep. 29, 2018). Living goddess Ekanta Kumari becomes the means of creating unity not only between Hindu and Buddhist but also among all the social entities.

52 The rituals of Ekanta Kumari tradition have been performed with the traditionally set rules, where different people have different roles and Ekanta Kumari is the central figure. All the people from the various background even the head of the state move around her. This kind of ritualized social performance creates social harmony in the stratified society. The tradition repeats each year. With the same sense, Richard Schechner has mentioned in "Ritual and Performanc", “Rituals are performative: they are acts done; and performances are ritualized: they are codified, repeatable actions” (613). Here, Schechneremphasizes on the performative aspect of the rituals, which are repeatable activitiesoccurring in the regular intervals.In the same way, Sajani also shares her experience, “In normal time, I used to go to school and play with my friends. In such occasion, I did not get any special behavior, but in

Dashain time, I was worshipped and bowed down to my leg by all including my family members and friends” (personal interview, Sep. 22, 2018).In this regard, Turner's idea reoccurred each year in Sajani's ritualistic performance that has been carried away by the society in order to harmonize society.

In the ritualistic performance of Ekanta Kumari in Bhaktapur, people from different classes and groups are given different tasks and responsibilities. The responsibilities are traditionally assigned for each classes and groups as each classes and groups’ participation is equally important to accomplish the ritual. Richard Schechner in “Ritual and Performance” mention,

Extrapolating from the evidence and opinions at hand, the performances at ceremonial

centres functioned in at least the following ways : (1) to create or maintain friendly

relations; (2) to exchange goods, food, mates, techniques; (3) to show, enjoy and

exchange dances, songs, stories. (620)

53 The ritualistic performance based on the myth and stories, which moves forward with different role plays of different people. For example, the head priest Narendra Joshi explains,

“Role of priests in performing Puja, role of Susare’s family in taking care of Kumari, role of

Khadgi Nayo in sacrificing the animals, role of musical bands, etc.” (personal interview,

Sept. 29, 2018). Because of these traditional roles, the social groups and classes create friendly and mutual relationship that is also the sense of communitas.

The Ekanta Kumari tradition is incessant cultural tradition from the time of its initiation. It does not inform us only the present Kumari or Sajani Shakya, rather it is associated with the whole history of Bhaktapur Newar and it has become the identity of

Bhaktapur Newar, especially Shakya-Vajracharya clan. This understanding of history, culture and rituals promote the social harmony. Mark Howard Ross has mentioned the same idea in

“Narratives and Performance: ritual enactment and psychocultural dramas in ethnic conflict”,

“Cultural performances are expressions that communicate core parts of a group’s self- understood identity and history. The cultural performances of particular interest here are those used to build or bolster political narratives and claims based on them” (67). At this point, Sajani’s visiting to America is the suitable example.The update was published in

Sadmia.com with the title "Sajani Shakya - Child Goddess - Reinstated!", “Sajani Shayka was on a 39-day tour with the makers of a film about the Kumaris of Nepal when the religious leaders in her home town decided to strip her of her status. They thought that the visit had tainted her purity and violated the strict rules under which the Kumari must live”.

The visit promotes the Ekanta Kumari tradition nationally and internationally as she became the headlines of national and international Medias is also a kind of cultural communication with the world as Ross states.

The Ekanta Kumari tradition has the motif to integrate the society where all the social components have the spiritual sense to Ekanta Kumari goddess. That is why, the state needs

54 to promote it by financing all the expenses. Marc Howard Ross also presents the same notion in “Narratives and Performance: ritual enactment and psychocultural dramas in ethnic conflict”,

Most obvious is its role in connecting individuals to the larger community of

believers. Pilgrimage is also a powerful mechanism for mobilizing sentiment and

action in favor of specific political goals. While pilgrimage reinforces identification

with existing communities it often offers the image of an ideal community that does

not yet exist. (76)

In the ritual process, the communal understanding to an individual reinforces the individual power. After the initiation of Ekanta Kumari, Sajani was worshipped in each Dashain supposing her as the goddess. Rukmani Shakya states, "Due to her younger age, she had the sense about her situation around five years of age. That is why; she developed the sentiment that she was the goddess" (personal interview, Sept. 15, 2018).it was because the society boosted her as the goddess. She was connected to all the devotees from both sects, Hindu and

Buddhist, in Bhaktapur.

After the retirement from the post, the personnel may feel overwhelmingly discomfort because of the impression that she is the inborn Ekanta Kumari. the departure can be the toughest job as she may have the emotional attachment with the deity. In such situation, the question is raised how the harmonious adjustment is possible. Similarly, Mark Howard Ross in “Narratives and Performance: ritual enactment and psychocultural dramas in ethnic conflict” tries to address the problem. He writes,

Rather, either the emotional significance of differences diminished sufficiently for

people to find a “solution” that lowered tension so that they could return to their daily

routines in relative harmony; or, there were outcomes such as the peaceful fission of a

55 village into smaller ones. It is naïve to that reintegration is immediate even following

redressive action. (81-82)

At the time of separation, the peaceful action should be taken, which helps for the harmonious integration in the society. Here, Sajani's experience is matched with Ross's idea as no one could console her and it became difficult for her to run her daily business in the normal state. Rukmani shares, "In order to integrate Sajani in the society in harmonious way, we accepted her desire of living away from Ekanta Kumari House as our family residence is

Kumari House itself being the Kumari caretaker family" (personal interview, Sept. 15, 2018).

Then she was admitted to the Little Angles’ School in Lalitapur with the hostel facility that facilitates her to adjust in the society.

The social performance of Ekanta Kumari tradition reflects the whole socio-cultural scenario of Bhaktapur. Similarly, analyzing Sajani Shakya’s whole process from the initiation to retirement and adjustment in the society has dramatized the cultural complications. The same idea is revealed by Victor Turner in “Images and Reflections: Ritual, Drama, Carnival,

Film, and Spectacle in Cultural Performance”. He states,

Performative Reflexivity is a condition in which a sociocultural group, or its most

perceptive members acting representatively, turn, bend reflect back upon themselves,

upon the relations, actions, symbols, meanings, codes, roles, statuses, social

structures, ethical and legal rules, and other sociocultural components which make up

their public “selves”. (24)

The sociocultural performance is reflected in individual's activities through different symbols and rules. In the same way, Narendra Joshi states,"the performance depicted Sajani as the goddess and general people as the devotees, where she plays the crucial role of symbolizing the unity of the society as both Hindu and Buddhist worship her" (personal interview, Sept.

56 29, 2018). It not only regarded Sajani and her family’s involvement, rather also regarded how the whole social performance was created that demonstrates the communitas.

Here, Sajani’s story does not reflect only herself; rather she represents the whole

Ekanta Kumari tradition. Furthermore,Turner depicted the same idea. He writes, “Ritual and

Drama involves selves, not self; yet the aggregate of selves in a given community or society is often thought of, metaphorically, as a self” (25).It means that an individual represents the whole society. Similarly, Sajani Shakya is not the individual self; rather she is the face of the whole social selves. At this point, Rukmai's remark is remarkable, "As we change our clothes, the goddess also changes her bodies. In the same way, once she used Sajani's body and after completing her time, the goddess moved to the next body. That means the goddess remains forever" (personal interview, Sept. 15, 2018). That is why, by studying about her life, we can understand the whole Ekanta Kumari girl’s lives on the one hand, and on the other hand we become aware about all the stakeholders related to the Ekanta Kumari tradition.

In the Ekanta Kumari rituals, different breaches and ruptures have occurred. All those things create the conflict especially between the old generation and the new generation, which have been solved dramatically and the tradition continues. The same thing happened in

Sajani's case during her America visit. In the same way, Victor Turner in “The Anthropology of Performance” acknowledges the process of social performance, “I define social dramas units of aharmonic or disharmonic social process, arising conflict situations. Typically, they have four main phases of public action” (74), which he recognizes are: Breach, Crisis,

Redressive action and reintegression of the disturbed social group or the social recognition and legitimation of irreparable schism between the contesting parties.As in drama, disharmonic situation was created after she attended the inauguration program of the documentary The Living Goddess in Washington DC. It was disapproval for the religious leaders in Nepal, so that they sacked her from her post of Ekanta Kumari. Rukmani shares,

57 "The decision of sacking her became the matter of widespread protest nationally and internationally. Then the religious leaders rethink in their decision and reinstated her after the cleansing process" (personal interview, Sept. 15, 2018). From the perspective of social performance, Sajani Shakya’s America visit was dramatic in nature, which incorporated all the stages that Turner stated above.

The symbolic action plays the role of communitas in solving the conflict and breaches of ritual rules. In Ekanta Kumari tradition, Chhema Puja, worshipping for the purification, is such symbolic action. By applying so, the differences and conflicts appearing in the ritual practice have been resolved. With the same notion, Mark Howard Ross has presented the idea how the symbolic action works to balance the conflict created by old and new idea. He states in “Narratives and Performance: ritual enactment and psychocultural dramas in ethnic conflict”,

Use of symbolic action entails the development of inclusive rituals that link different

communities, or redefinition of older rituals so they are no longer highly threatening

and exclusive. Most commonly we think about the divisive role symbolic and ritual

action takes in ethnic conflict. There is no doubt that ethnic entrepreneurs, political

leaders interested in short term gains, and even sincere patriots at times mobilize

support through emotionally appealing symbolic appeal. (85)

The symbolic action itself is the ritual process, which has the power to minimize the gaps and heal the conflict. In Sajani's case as well, Chhema Puja became the ritual action and medium to reinstate her Ekanta Kumari post as the religious leaders were at the mood of sacking her in her America visit. Narendra Joshi reveals, "The symbolic action like Chhema Puja was done as suggested mmediately after her return from America to Nepal. That symbolic action worked to address the conflict and resolved of sacking her Ekanta Kumari post as she was reinstated" (personal interview, Sept.29, 2018). In this regard, the symbolic action is the

58 remedial process for minimizing the conflict between the religious leaders and family of

Ekanta Kumari that is what Ross also indicates.

The liminal phase, especially during Kumari to post Kumari transition, leads the individual to the indeterminate life as she is accustomed with the Kumari life. That is the reason, the girl does not want to leave the post. In the same way, Victor Turner also analyses the indeterminacy of social ritual. He states in “Images and Reflections: Ritual, Drama,

Carnival, Film, and Spectacle in Cultural Performance”, “Ritual is a declaration of form against indeterminacy, therefore indeterminacy is always present in the background of any social ritual” (94). Sajani also faced the indeterminate situation in her post Ekanta Kumari transition. Sajani states, "I surpassed the initiation phase easily as I was in the state of tebula- rasa but I was mature enough to understand at the time of departure. It was a sudden blow for me to leave the post" (personal interview, Sept. 22, 2018). Although the transition was not as smooth as expected, it became possible after fulfilling all her desires of staying away from

Kumari house. Here the family and society has made the situation easy that is matter of communitas.

At the time of liminal phases in the Ekanta Kumari tradition, all the social factors cooperated and compromised to adjust the Ekanta Kumari girl in the society peacefully. Here all these social roles are described as communitas. In this regard, Victor Turner states in

“The Anthropology of Performance”, "Communitas is the implicit law of wholeness arising out of relations between totalities. But communitas is intrinsically dynamic, never quite being realized precisely because individuals and collectivities try to impose their cognitive schemata on one another" (84). Communitas consolidates an individual into the wholeness and it always demonstrates the dynamism to move forward. In Sajani's case, because of her premature initiation and thought of self as inborn Ekanta Kumari, she was not ready to leave the Ekanta Kumari post although she was mature enough. In such situation, her family and

59 the community contributed to integrate her in the society.Rukmani Shakya reveals, "The family members gave her the consent to stay away in the hostel in Lalitapur. Similarly, the government also managed the allowances to make her life easy" (personal interview, Sept.

15, 2018). Such familial and communal initiation facilitate her to adjust in the society, which is the spirit of the communitas.

In the Ekanta Kumari tradition, the ritual is done with the involvement of all the social groups – from the king to the lower strata of the society. Each social group has their own specific roles, without which it is supposedly not completed. Here the performance of each social group is distinct and inherent. In that sense, all the social groups have equal footings and that is the essential quality of social harmony, which promotes communitas in the society. Victor Turner has also viewed same in “Introduction” of From Ritual to Theatre. He sates, “Here the etymology of “performance” may give us a helpful clue, for it has nothing to do with “form,” but derives from Old French Parfournir, “to complete” or “carry out thoroughly.” A performance, then, is the proper finale of an experience” (13). The performance is to experience in the complete sense. Sajani Shakya shares about her experience of performance, "At Dashain, I had to stay in the throne in Kumari chhe and the all types of people came to worship me. On the day of Nawami, I had to attend in the especial puja in the Taleju temple along with the four Taleju priests" (personal interview, Sept. 15,

2018).People from all levels participated and moved around her during Dashain as she shared, which also became the way to promote communitas.

Victor Turner has recognized Van Gennep’s concept of transition that involves three phases. Here, the first phase illustrates entering of novice into the sacred space and time. He states in “Liminal to Liminoid, in Play, Flow, and Ritual: An Essay in Comparative

Symbology”,

60 Van Gennep, as is known as, distinguishes three phases in a rite of passage:

separation, transition, and incorporation. The first phase of separation clearly

demonstrates sacred space and time from profane or secular space and time (it is more

than just a matter of entering a temple – there must be in addition a rite which changes

the quality of time also, or constructs a cultural realm which is defined as “out of

time,” i.e., beyond or outside the time which measures the secular processes and

routines.) (qtd. in Turner 24).

In this regard, Sajani Shakya’s transforming from pre-Kumari to Kumari post makes her sacred. Everyone regards her as the goddess. She also experiences the deity in herself.

After exceeding to Kumari post, Sajani got the identity of Ekanta Kumari but at the same time personal identity became hidden. Different components played as the vital roles in that situations to become Ekanta Kumari - such as her parents as Ekanta Kumari care takers and other stakeholders’ consent. The hidden identity is defamiliar self for Victor Turner. He states in “Liminal to Liminoid, in Play, Flow, and Ritual: An Essay in Comparative

Symbology”, “In other words, in liminality people “play” with the elements of the familiar and defamiliarize them. Novelty emerges from unprecedented combinations of familiar elements” (27). The new identity overlaps her real identity.

Communitas is the only tool to normalize the liminal situation in the ritual process. It is to listen person of transition and fulfill the desire. Here Sajani chose to go away from her home to live, it was the hostel of Little Angels’ School. Victor Turner also states in “Liminal to Liminoid, in Play, Flow, and Ritual: An Essay in Comparative Symbology”,“If there ever were individual creators and artists, they have been subdued by the general “liminal” emphasis on anonymity and communitas, just as the novices and their novice-masters have been” (43).That means, the individual is subdued in the liminal process and the communitas provides new life to the novice. In the same way,the transition from Ekanta Kumari to post

61 Ekanta Kumari was not smoother as expected. She herself was eleven years of age and could realize her own thoughts and feelings. She wanted to continue her tenure but the rules did not permit. That’s why she was given more attention to console, so that she would realize her own liminal phase and she could copethe difficult situation in the easy way.

In the ritual process, to accept the existence of the self retains the identity. That is the form of the communitas, in which the society accepts the Ekanta Kumari girl with her individual qualities. Victor Turner formulates the same notion of communitas. He illustrates in “Liminal to Liminoid, in Play, Flow, and Ritual: An Essay in Comparative Symbology”,

For me communitas preserves individual distinctiveness – it is neither regression, nor

is it emotional, or is it “merging” in fantasy. In people’s social structural relationships

they are by various abstract processes generalized and segmetized into roles, statuses,

classes, cultural sexes, conventional age divisions, ethnic affiliations, etc. (45-46)

Turner stresses on individual instinct that communitas conserves. After selecting her as

Ekanta Kumari, Sajani had to live dual lives – during Dashain festival, she had to be Ekanta

Kumari but in other time, she used to live the normal girl’s life. She did not have to bear any other restrictions. In this sense, her individual self was not subdued, rather accepted. Here, the acceptance of ‘Sajani as Self’ even during her Ekanta Kumari tenure was the communitas.

In the same way, when she was transformed into post Ekanta Kumari, she also shifted the social structures and she had the different social relationships. During the Ekanta Kumari period, there were the relationships of the deity and devotees; whereas after her retirement, she was bounded with the social relationship of equal entity to other girls in the society.

To bring her in such a rule governed society, Victor Turner describes it as communitas. He states in “Liminal to Liminoid, in Play, Flow, and Ritual: An Essay in

Comparative Symbology”, “Yet when this communitas or comitas is institutionalized, the

62 new-found idiosyncratic is legislated into yet another set of universalistic roles and statuses, whose incumbents must subordinate individuality to a rule” (47). Different institutions like

Guthis, Medias and so on are the medium for communitas. After Sajani’s visit to America, the religious leaders dethroned her from the Ekanta Kumari post. Then the post was immediately reinstated after the protest of the larger public. Here, her personality was institutionalized with the Ekanta Kumari tradition and the public demanded the wider space for Ekanta Kumari girl to govern, which is the essence of communitas. Similarly, after her retirement as well, she was attempted to normalize by providing the allowance and accepting her as the responsible member of the society.

The Ekanta Kumari tradition itself is inclusive in nature. There is the amalgamation of

Hinduism and Buddhism. A Buddhist girl, Sajani Shakya, was extended to the Hindu goddess and worshipped her by both Hindu and Buddhist. Similarly, people from all strata get the role and responsibilities in the performance. In that sense, here is the feeling of “We”. To this aspect of humanitarian feeling, Victor Turner qualifies as communitas. He in “Liminal to

Liminoid, in Play, Flow, and Ritual: An Essay in Comparative Symbology” states,

“Communitas tends to be inclusive, even snobbish, relishing the distinction between we/they and in-group/out-group, higher/lower, betters/menials. This drives to inclusivity makes for proselytization. One wants to make the Others, We” (51).In communitas, all are included, so it creates the situation of harmony. In the normal time, Sajani was integrated with the society.

She could do all the things that a normal girl could do. It means there was no difference between her and others. But during the time of her Kumari avatar at Dashain, she transformed into the goddess and all the people worshipped her.

The liminal process of Ekanta Kumari is calendric and it happens in two ways. The first one occurs annually during Dashain.That is to say, the girl has to transform self into

Ekanta Kumari. She needs to adopt all the rules - limit self into the four walls of Kumari

63 Chhe, wear only Kumari dress, sit in the throne and bless the devotees.Similarly, the second one occurs at the age of eleven, that time she needs to take the retirement and replace the post by another young girl. Victor Turner in “Liminal to Liminoid, in Play, Flow, and Ritual: An

Essay in Comparative Symbology” states,

Liminal phenomena tend to be collective, concerned with calendrical, biological,

social-structural rhythms or with crises in social processes whether these result from

internal adjustments or external adaptations or remedial measures. Thus they appear at

what may be called “natural peaks,” natural distinction in the flow of natural and

social processes. (54)

Every Dashain Sajani had to be limited within the four walls of the Ekanta Kumari house and wear only the Kumari dress. She was prohibited to go out and not allowed to do the activities freely. Her responsibility was to bless the devotees by sitting at the throne. In other words, she had to transform into the goddess.Here in the course to be the goddess, she had to go through the liminal phase twice a year – before Dashain either on Sunday or Thursday, she changed self into Ekanta Kumari and on the last day of Dashain, that is Kojagrat Purnima, she turned self into normal girl. It moved ahead with the natural flow. The process was calendrical in the sense that the transformation took place every year. Ekanta Kumari

Tradition itself is calendrical in the sense that after reaching the maturity level of eleven years, the goddess needs to leave the post as Sajani did and a new young girl should be replaced at her post. After that different measures of tools were adopted in order to adjust her in the society. The government provided some allowances to ease her life and her desire of living away was also fulfilled.

The Ekanta Kumari tradition moves forward with the ritual rules. Those rules have been improvised for many times. At the time of improvisation, it is supposed as the breaking

64 rules but later it has become adjustable to the rules, which has made the tradition smoother.In this way, the communitas makes the situation smoother. In the same way, Victor Turner illustrates in “Liminal to Liminoid, in Play, Flow, and Ritual: An Essay in Comparative

Symbology”

I would like to say simply that what I call communitas has something of a “flow”

quality, but it may arise, and often does arise spontaneously and unanticipated – it

does not need rules to trigger it off. In theological language, it is sometimes a matter

of “grace” rather than “law” (58).

Here Turner tries to emphasize that communitas provides the flow quality to the rituals, which is to be situational and flexible, instead of being straight forward to the rules. In the same way, Sajani Shakya stated,"There are not any written rules - the incumbent Ekanta

Kumari cannot go out of the Kumari house or out of valley or even out of the country. So,

Ienjoyed the freedom of going to school as well as going out of valley in other to visit and worship different shrines" (personal interview, Sept. 22, 2018). When she went to visit

America, all the rules were revealed by the religious leaders. Narendra Joshi states,"An

Ekanta Kumari Could not even go out of Kathmandu valley without the permission of authorities, then how could she go to America?" (personal interview, Sept. 29, 2018). But her family and she were ignorant to these rules. So the leaders decided to punish her by dethroning from her post. Then the general public supported her and pressurized to the religious leaders to reinstate her post. Here the tensed situation was normalized only after reinstating her again at the same post.

After being appointed, Sajani handled the Ekanta Kumari role very smoothly. She even started thinking self as inborn Ekanta Kumari. It was because the society accepted her and she also gave the consent for the role. This state of communitas has the quality of flow.

65 Similarly, the communitas made the situation ease at the time of transition from Ekanta

Kumari to post Ekanta Kumari. There was not any rule or law how to manage the post of

Ekanta Kumari and her life, rather she felt difficult to leave the Kumari life. So her family made her easy by letting her go away from the Kumari house. Being the Ekanta Kumari care- taker family, it was difficult for her to tolerate to see all the Kumari rituals being non Ekanta

Kumari. So, her family and other relatives took her to Little Angles’ School Hostel in

Lalitapur. This action made her ease to run her life smoothly and the flow involved at this particular point of communitas.

Freedom of Ekanta Kumari makes the Kumari girl more alive. The two kinds of life the goddess can exist hand in hand. Because of her freedom, the life of the Ekanta Kumari tradition becomes long lasting as everyone feels ease and no rights is infringed. So, Sajani

Shakya was not ready to retire, even though she was mature enough. In that sense, it has become the exemplary for the other Kumaris of Kathmandu and Patan. By utilizing the same freedom, Sajani Shakya visited to the USA during her tenure. When the visit was disliked by the religious leaders, the public supported her and argued in her favor as Narendra Joshi, current head priest of Bhaktapur Taleju, mentions people’s remark,“The goddess could not make mistake, because she was a child goddess and the decision of going to the US was made by the elders on her behalf” (personal interview, Sep. 29, 2018). By visiting the USA, she not only breaks the boundary of freedom but also promotes Nepali culture in the world and attracts the tourists to Nepal.

66 Chapter – 3

Conclusion: Dynamism in Ekanta Kumari Rituals and Sajani Shakya

In the Ekanta Kumari tradition, the crucial period is the time of transition from pre-

Kumari to Kumari and Kumari to post- Kumari. After reaching eleven years of age, the

Kumari girl retires from the post of Ekanta Kumari. The retired Kumari is transitioning to post-Kumari and the young girl, who is replacing the throne, is transitioning from pre-Kumari to Kumari. These transitions or liminal states bring different complications. Such as, the issue about the retired Kumari’s adjustment in the society and the young girl develops the mentality of being goddess and thinking different about self than others while installing the girl prematurely. Similarly, the prevalent superstition also hampers to the daily life of the young Kumari girl.

In the Ekanta Kumari tradition, there is inextricable relationship between the individual and the community. The individual faces the liminal situation time and again. In such situations, the society stands back and the individual gets the shelter for her life to normalize. The social responsibility is to stop the social disruption. The case study of ex-

Ekanta Kumari Sajani Shakya shows that there is the indispensable relationship between

Ekanta Kumari and Community. She lives both lives - Ekanta Kumari life and community life of a normal girl - at the same time.

Through the case study of Sajani Shakya as Eanta Kumari, it can be concluded that the individual and the community are interlinked in Bhaktapur Newar community. The individual, Ekanta Kumari, also contributes the society by integrating different religious sects

– Hinduism and Buddhism – and creates the harmony in the society. Apart from that, she stands as the Supreme Being, who even controls the uncontrolled powers of the King. This instance indirectly establishes the woman’s supremacy as well.

67 Sajani Shakya became Ekanta Kumari during a historic period - 2056 B. S. to 2064

B.S. When she was acceded to the Ekanta Kumari throne, she was just around two years of age. At that time she did not have any sense at all, rather she was completely at the state of tebula rasa. When she recognized self around four or five years, she was receiving the puja from the devotees and blessing them. The incident made her the impression - "innate goddess". The liminal process from pre-Ekanta Kumari to Ekanta Kumari occurred smoothly.

Although she was selected for Ekanta Kumari, she had to be Ekanta Kumari only during Dashain. In the rest of the time, she was free to do anything and she was free to go anywhere. So that, she used to play with the friends and she used to go to school and visit different places. These rules made her life easier even during the Ekanta Kumari tennure.

The same sense of flexibility and freedom led her to America as she was invited to be the guest for inauguration program of the documentary film "The living Goddess", which was related with her life. But the visit was the matter of losing purity for the religious leaders.

They blamed her that she became impure, so the goddess needed to be replaced. Then people from the national and international Media protested of sacking her. After that she had to go through the cleansing process to reinstate as the goddess.

She was retired in 2064 B.S. at the age of 11 years. But the retirement was not as smooth as expected. It was so, because she was not ready to get the retirement. All the stakeholders tried hard to console her for the departure from the post. Later she agreed to leave the post in one condition that was going far away from the Kumari residential house.

That made her out of contact with the ritual process. Her parents fulfilled all her wishes. So, they took her to hostel and shifted her school to Little Angels' School in Lalitapur.

This individual and communal bonding is the heart of the Ekanta Kumari tradition.

The tradition has neither adopted the fundamentalismnor followed the ruthless path of

68 newchanges. It moves forward in the balanced way.The Newar community of Bhaktapur always tends to provide the protection to the individual; this has been seen especially in

Ekanta Kumari tradition of Sajani Shakya’s case study. Whenever the tensionarises in Ekanta

Kumari tradition, the community people always protect the Ekanta Kumari girl that is the feeling of communitas.

In the society, rupture may happen, breaches of the rules may occur and eruptions may arise. All these occurrences are universal phenomenon. So ruptures, breaches or eruptions are the natural process even in the Ekanta Kumari tradition.At the time of Sajani’s

America flight, the religious leaders regarded as breaching the rules and took the decision of firing her. Later she was taken back with the public pressure. This instance has shown the dynamic quality of communitas.

Whenever the misunderstanding appears, the community people, especially Guthi members, facilitate to reconcile the disagreements and differences that help to unite people in the society. Ekanta Kumari girl is the live tested one; people have experienced her activities.

That means all her life during the Ekanta Kumari period is the matter of public phenomenon.

Similarly, the same type of eruptions may occur in the future as well.In such condition, the power of communitas renews her role in the society, which repairs the social relationship or individual and communal bonding.

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