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Nepal Gets New Living 'Goddess'
A 4-year-old girl was elevated as the new living goddess of Nepal on Tuesday, to spend her childhood revered as the source of prosperity in the Hindu kingdom high in the Himalayas.
Preeti Shakya, the daughter of a poor family, was enthroned as the new Kumari, or virgin goddess ¡ª a status she will hold until she reaches puberty and returns to being a mere mortal.
The ceremony took place in the goddess's small palace at the heart of the Nepalese capital, an official with the department that looks after the Kumari told the press.
The palace is just few feet from the Hanumandhoka palace, where King Gyanendra was crowned Nepal's new king last month after a royal massacre that left his predecessor and nine other royals dead.
The Kumari is revered by both Hindus and Buddhists who believe that she has blessed the king and 22 million people of this Himalayan nation with peace and prosperity.
The royal priests and officials spent April and May searching for a new Kumari to replace the old one, who began menstruating and therefore lost her divine status.
The new Kumari will be introduced to the public in October during Desain, Nepal's biggest festival. Like many goddesses, Shakya comes from Nepal's lower classes, the daughter of Surendra and Reena Shakya, who live in a mud and brick house in a low income neighborhood of Katrmandu. She has an elder sister, Priya, who is 6.
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