PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 16, 2014
PAGE 35
Strange World
Nepal’s worshiped child goddesses’ feet cannot touch the ground until puberty
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epal is a land of mysticism, where a select few prepubescent girls from the Newar clan are worshiped as ‘Kumari Devi’ or ‘Virgin Goddess’. According to tradition, Durga (the Hindu goddess of destruction) herself is incarnate in young girls belonging to the silver and goldsmith community. Until they attain puberty, Kumaris are worshipped as deities and deemed protectors by thousands of adoring Hindus and Buddhists in Nepal. To prove that she is the chosen one, a prospective Kumari must go through over 30 tests. Initially, high priests choose girls based on their physical characteristics – with a slender neck like a conch shell, gentle eyes like a cow, and other special traits. In the next stage, the girl must pass through a series of unusual trials. In one test, she is placed in a darkened room with severed animal heads and hideously masked dancing men, while her reaction is observed. In another test, she must correctly identify the items worn by her predecessor (similar to the ritual used in Tibet to choose a new Dalai Lama). Once a Kumari is selected, she moves out of her home and into the Kumari Bahal, along with her family. Here, she is treated like royalty – she is carefully protected, appearing in public only if an occasion demands it. For these public appearances, she is seated on a traditional throne, as visitors come to pay their respects. Her feet aren’t allowed to touch the ground; she is carried around on chariots or
in her caretakers’ arms at all times. A Kumari has an entirely different lifestyle from that of normal children. She doesn’t attend school, and doesn’t learn to walk until she reaches puberty. Once she begins to menstruate, she goes through a special 12-day ‘Gufa’ ritual, marking the end of her life as a little goddess. For the ritual, the Kumari is bathed in the Bagmatiriver in Patan, Nepal. She is then dressed in Traditional Nepali wedding attire, with a cloth covering her face as she is brought outside to worship the sun. After the Gufa ceremony, she retires from the life of a Kumari, meaning she can walk and go to school like any ordinary girl. When they first return to normal life, Kumaris often have weak legs and find it difficult to walk. Exgoddess Chanira Bajracharya, 19, said: “It was a challenging transition. I couldn’t even walk properly because I had been carried all the time. The outside world was a complete stranger to me.” Chanira was chosen as the Kumari of Patan City when she was only five years old and retired when she was 15. Because Kumaris are confined to their houses or temples and subject to strict daily rituals, a few human rights activists consider it to be a form of child labor. They view the ritual as a hindrance to the freedom and education of the child. But in 2008, the Supreme Court overruled a petition against the custom, stating that Kumaris are culturally and religiously significant. The court did order a few reforms though, including education for the girls. St. Xavier
The Kumari Devi” being carried by worshippers
The Kumari Devi” being carried by worshippers
school in Patan city does provide a full scholarship to educate any Kumari during her reign. Despite the difficulties that Chanira faced while returning to normal life, she believes that her former life was blessed. “Being a Kumari was a matter of great pride and respect for me and my family,” she said. She also believes that the identity of a respectable female force
with divine energy should be perceived as something beyond religion. “Nepal is primarily a male-dominated society, but here’s a girl worshiped and revered as a goddess. As a woman, I got that respect. And the same message should be conveyed in society – that women should be respected and not dominated.” At age 16, Chanira was unable to navigate her local neighborhood
and found it tough to interact with her teachers and classmates. But she did remarkably well for herself, becoming the first ex-Kumari to sit the school-leaving certificate exam. She is now a student of business at Kathmandu University, and hopes to become a banker in the future. “Before, Kumaris weren’t supposed to marry, but some exKumaris are now married,” said Chanira. “Society is changing.”
Cook has to wear gas mask while preparing World’s hottest drumstick sauce
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Muhammad pouring out the sauce
uhammed Karim, the mad chef in charge of spicy dishes at Bindi Restaurant, in Lincolnshire, England, claims he has created the world’s hottest drumstick sauce in the world. It’s called the Atomic Kick Ass, and yes, it’s like an atomic bomb going off in your mouth. So just how hot is this crazy concoction, you ask? Well, Muhammed has to put on a gas mask whenever he prepares it, to avoid passing out from the fumes, so that should give you an idea. If you need more technical data, you should know the Atomic Kick Ass sauce scores 12 million units on the Scoville scale of hotness, several times more than police pepper spray. 34-year-old Muhammed Karim says eating his special sauce “feels like putting an iron on your lips and leaving it there”. It also comes with a series of sideeffects that have regularly forced those foolish enough to try it into
the back of an ambulance. Facial paralysis, body shakes and even internal bleeding are all possible outcomes of consuming Atomic Kick Ass sauce, so the Bindi restaurant requires daredevils to sign a waiver before going anywhere near the stuff. ”The last guy who tried it was sweating all over. He was slapping his face to try and feel anything but it was paralyzed,” Karim said. “The body gets this massive rush which can paralyze their face for up to 30 minutes and give them body shakes.” In order to deal with any medical emergencies, the staff at Bindi restaurant is trained in First Aid so they can look after customers before paramedics arrive. The owner of Bindi restaurant adds that his sauce “is like weaponry”, and has to be kept under lock and key to prevent people from accidentally using it. Those willing to test their resilience can take the restaurant’s
“Atomic Kick Ass Challenge”, for the chance to win £100. All they have to do is eat 10 fiery drumsticks covered in sauce in under 15 minutes. So far, only 20 people have taken the challenge, and the record currently stands at 2 drumsticks. The Atomic Kick Ass sauce is made with some of the world’s hottest peppers, including Moruaga Scorpion and Carolina Reaper, as well as five milliliters of special chili extract, measuring a whopping 13 million Scoville units. It’s so strong that any customers attempting the challenge are required to wear two pairs of gloves. But it seems Mr.Karim is not yet satisfied with the hotness of his sauce and is currently working on something even stronger. ”My Bangladeshi mother is currently growing a hybrid chilli called the Hulk, which will be all the hottest chillies in one and register 3 million Scoville on its own,” he said. Yummy, I can’t wait…