[Today's Prayer] Two-Year-Old Girl in Nepal Selected as Living Goddess ‘Kumari’ and Moves into Temple Palace

In Nepal, a two-year-old girl has been newly selected as the living goddess “Kumari” and has moved into the temple palace.

According to CNN on the 2nd (local time), 32-month-old Aryatara Shakya has been chosen as Nepal’s new Kumari.

Family, friends, and devotees paraded through the streets to escort the new Kumari to the temple palace. The Kumari can return to ordinary life upon reaching puberty.

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Kumari are selected from the Shakya clan of the indigenous Newar community of the Kathmandu Valley and are revered by both Hindus and Buddhists in Nepal, a Hindu-majority country. They always wear red clothing, tie their hair in a topknot, and have a "third eye" painted on their foreheads.

Girls chosen are usually between 2–4 years old, with flawless skin, hair, eyes, and teeth, and must not fear darkness.

Clan members compete to have their daughters selected as Kumaris, as this position gives Kumaris' families a high status in Nepali society and the clan.

However, Kumaris live almost entirely in seclusion. Only a few chosen playmates stay with them, and they are allowed outside only a few times a year during festivals.

As a result, former Kumaris often struggle to adapt to normal life, learn household skills, and attend regular schools.

Folklore also holds that men who marry former Kumaris die young, so many girls remain unmarried.

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Source: Naver News

Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” (Ezekiel 37:9)

Father God, we see a two-year-old girl in Nepal selected as a living goddess, the Kumari, and worshipped by both Hindus and Buddhists.

To be chosen, she must have flawless skin, hair, eyes, and teeth. Once selected, she leaves her family to live a nearly reclusive life in the temple, only coming out during a few festivals each year, and cannot return to normal life until puberty.

Lord, we pray that You have mercy on this custom in Nepal, which leads people to idolatry instead of following You and ruins the life of a single child.

Because becoming a Kumari requires a life of seclusion, former Kumaris often struggle to adapt to life, attend regular schools, and even find marriage difficult.

We pray that all the deceptive schemes and darkness of Satan, which deprive children of their precious lives and steals their childhood, when they should be nurtured by God's Word and the love of their families, will be eradicated from Nepal.

We repent before You of all sins of child idolization. By Your Word, let Your Spirit come from all directions, breathe life into Nepal, a nation that seems to have been slaughtered.

May the churches of Nepal and the global Church together repent of this sin, and make a holy commitment to serve and love God alone. May Nepal, still bound by this hideous idolatry, turn to You!

May the breath of life that comes only from Jesus Christ breathe into Nepal, so that the news of death will cease, and Nepal be transformed into a holy land where people live only through the Gospel and worship only You!

Come, life, from all directions and set fire to the land of Nepal! Let Nepal come alive through the life of Jesus Christ! May it be renewed as a holy land that serves only God!