Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Wanted: Living Goddess...

...all males and any female over the age of 12 need not apply.

Hmmm. That sounds like a sex AND an age discrimination lawsuit to me. Fortunately the position is not in the United States so litigation will not be an issue. No, no this job opening is in Nepal. It seems that although one can no longer reincarnate without the proper permit in Nepal you can indeed hire and worship a living goddess.

It seems that as part of a centuries-old tradition, "three medieval towns in the Kathmandu valley worship pre-pubescent girls as the living embodiment of the goddess Taleju." The present living goddess (called a Kumari), eleven-year-old Sajani Shakya, has held the position for nine years but must step down because of another centuries-old tradition. She's gotten married. Symbolically, but married none-the-less. To a fruit. No, not that kind of fruit. A real fruit. Of the botanical variety. Here's a photo of her new husband posing with his family at the wedding.


To quote the little girl worshiping crop conjoiners, "we have a tradition to get our girls married to a Bael (Aegle marmelos), a fruit dedicated to Lord Shiva, around the age of 10 or 11." There is no word as to whether she has been pollinated.

Hey, I can't make this shit up. Here's the article:
Living goddess wanted in Nepal: young girls only please

So if any of you out there have daughters under the age of 10 you may want to consider applying. Good colleges are getting harder and harder to get into. I can't imagine that putting "Living Goddess" on your application would hurt your chances of acceptance. You may not want to mention the marital status though.

12 comments:

Vicki said...

This is just wrong in so many ways. And marrying her to a fruit, now that's just plain odd. What happens if she meets a real man/boy one day. Does she have divorce the fruit tree?

Kitty said...

Thank goodness my daughter will soon be too old ;-)

Seriously though, it's an awful story isn't it? :-( x

Hungry Mother said...

At least she could've married a banana. That remark won't get me in trouble will it?

Bruce, a work in progress said...

Vicki, she's not married to the whole tree, just the fruit. I'm not sure what the divorce laws are in Nepal. YOu can't reincarnate without permission so it doesn't look good.

Kitty it's a crazy world. My youngest is too old too although in my house my wife and daughters are already goddesses.

HM, not with me. But I'm going to refrain from further comment.

Malach the Merciless said...

I went to Nepal once and got married to a fire hydrant

Malicious Intent said...

If you are married to fruit, and then get hungry and eat the fruit, do you go to jail for murder?

I have no idea where that came from, but seemed like a reasonable question.

Bruce, a work in progress said...

Mal, there's a joke in there somewhere about connecting your hose but I won't go there. How'd that work out for you? I'd bet your bride wasn't a real dog person.

That's an excellent question MI. I don't have the answer. The situation you describe raises an opportunity to educate the population on a public health matter of great importance...oral sex can be fatal under certain circumstances.

Mike said...

A lot of people get married to fruits don't they?

I mean I thought that was why God invented Massachusetts.

Seriously, I kid.

This is just further proof that no matter how long you live, you will never see everything.

Tequila Mockingbird said...

hmm... i think i would like to be reincarnated as a cat. a well loved house pet cat. id just lay in the sun, play with string, and lick myself all day long. siiiigh what a great gig!

Bruce, a work in progress said...

Mike, life is a lot of things but it's never dull.

TM you'd be very good at that. Of course if you were a good kitty you'd have to have your saucer of milk laced with rum.

Malach the Merciless said...

Malach has give out his first ever blog awards, and you have won one, congrats!

Forrest Proper said...

Given some of the alternatives, she may have done ok for herself.