There were some things that I experienced in Nepal that hit me harder than others. These are the things that I cannot get myself to stop thinking about. I still want to write a post about each day. I just feel like I need to share this thing with you all now.
Here in the United States we do not get a clear picture of other world religions or world events. Are views are masked by what we learn in schools and in the media. The only way to get a clear understanding is to go and see these religions for yourself. I hope that I can help give you a glimpse into the truth of Buddhism and Hinduism. This post in particular is about one specific belief or practice of the Hindus.
In a temple in the middle of the city of Kathmandu lies a little girl in a building. It is a great honor to her family that she is the Kumari, the living goddess. She is chosen from the highest cast systems in Nepal, she has to pass about 30 physical tests and then is picked to be the new Kumari. Her family gives her up for this honor to live in this single building for the next several years. She becomes the Kumari at the age of 5 years old and then continues to be this living goddess until she has her first period. She is watched over by priests, but no women. Her family can come and visit her, but they do not help raise her when she is in the temple. She does not get any education, goes outside of the building about 13 times a year for festivals and such, and is never taken care of by another women. After having her first period, she is no longer the living goddess, but is still considered to be a “goddess”. She then leaves the temple and goes to live with her family. She may marry one day, but the chances are slim because no guy wants to marry a goddess. It is almost taboo. She also doesn’t have an education, so what does she have in life?
This little five year old girl came to live with men. I can only speculate what happens behind those closed doors, but she is locked in a room with guys for several years alone. She then leaves the temple when she is able to get pregnant. The perfect cover up in my opinion.
Hindus are able to enter the temple to touch her feet and worship her. Tourists and others can enter the court yard of the temple and wait to see if she will come to the window for a minute. This is where I got to see her. We went into this dark, evil, temple to get a glimpse and pray for her. She came to the window and sat and looked out at all of us. She had no smile on her face as she looked down at the other kids playing around. She is a kid locked inside not allowed to experience life as a child. The look on her face was filled with hopelessness, fear and dispair. She is not happy. This is not right. It is hard to explain the overwhelming evil felt. As I stared into her eyes, my heart was breaking.
There are many practices and beliefs of hinduism that I did not get a chance to learn about. That may be because of the 32 million and growing gods that they have. There is no hope in anything. They need Jesus. They need His grace. Pray for these people.