當(dāng)女神的日子

Hostess： In Nepal， there is a young girl who’s selected as a living goddess. She’s worshipped， yet she lives a sheltered life. What do you mean by “a living goddess”？

Reporter： Well， the living goddess， who’s actually referred to as a “Kumari Baby，” is a young girl who’s chosen as young as three or four years of age， and she lives a lifestyle of 1）seclusion. She’s actually revered as a goddess. The Nepali Hindus and Buddhas believe her to actually have the 2）incarnation of the Hindu God Durga within her body， so she is considered an actual goddess. There’re actually a number of Kumaris in Nepal， the most famous of which is in Katmandu， the capital city. And each community has their own living goddess， and the locals in the community will come out and seek her blessings and come to her and pay their respects， so she’s sort of given this role as a divine being.

Hostess： So how is she chosen？

Reporter： Well， actually， that’s a good question. The selection process is said to be quite intense. What happens is the highest caste girls from the community of the Shakka clan， which is the clan where most of the Kumaris come from， are all assembled， when it’s time to choose a new living goddess， and the temple priests put them through a series of tests， and they make sure their neck is shaped perfectly. Some say they have to have a neck shaped like a 3）conch shell， they have to have a strong body， they have to have perfect teeth， so they’re evaluated for their looks and also for their fearlessness. It’s said that they are put in a dark room with severed animal heads in front of them， and they’re told to go in this room and act…

Hostess： Spend the night there or something？

Reporter：. …spend…spend maybe an hour or two， and the fearless girl is said to actually be divine， so that’s how they actually choose these goddesses.

Hostess： Tough criteria. So， once you’re chosen as a Kumari， are you a Kamari for your whole life？

Reporter： No， you’re not. You’re actually a Kumari until you hit 4）puberty， so these girls will end their term when they’re 12 or 13， and then they’re cast back into society and they revert back to a normal life， and they become a mortal again， at which point a new Kumari is selected. And while she is a Kumari， though， she is not allowed to go outside and play with her friends. She is confined to her house. She is allowed a tutor. In recent years they’ve educated the Kumaris. In old times they were not even allowed to get educated. But she lives a very isolated life， so when she returns to her mortal status， it’s very difficult for her to interact with society.

Hostess： So is a Kumari able to get married？

Reporter： Well， it’s actually considered bad luck for a man to marry a Kumari， so many men believe they would die young if they married a former Kumari， but， in recent years， the Kumaris have been getting married. Some husbands have actually lived a long life， so Kumaris are now able to get married because they don’t worry about it as much as they did in the past.

主持人：在尼泊爾，人們會(huì)挑選一位女孩當(dāng)活女神，她會(huì)受到眾人的頂禮膜拜；不過，她也過著與世隔絕的生活。“活女神”究竟是什么意思？

記者：嗯，活女神被人們稱為“庫瑪麗女孩兒”。她是一名年幼的女孩子，會(huì)在三、四歲的時(shí)候被挑選出來，并過著與世隔絕的生活。她確實(shí)被人們敬為女神。尼泊爾的印度教徒和佛教徒認(rèn)為她事實(shí)上就是印度教杜爾加女神的化身，因此她被視為真正的女神。實(shí)際上尼泊爾有不少活女神，最有名的要數(shù)首都加德滿都的活女神。尼泊爾的每個(gè)社區(qū)都有自己的活女神，在各地社區(qū)生活的人們都會(huì)尋求女神的祝福，會(huì)向女神朝拜，向她表達(dá)敬意。因此，她擁有神一樣的地位。

主持人：她是怎么被挑選出來的呢？

記者：嗯，問得好。挑選過程據(jù)說相當(dāng)嚴(yán)格。尼泊爾大部分庫瑪麗都出自釋迦部族。在挑選活女神的時(shí)候，部族所有出身最高貴的女孩子全部集中在一起，族里的神職人員讓她們經(jīng)受一系列考驗(yàn)，包括要確保她們脖子的形狀十分完美。有些人說她們的脖子形狀必須像海螺殼一樣，她們必須有強(qiáng)壯的身體，她們得有無缺陷的牙齒，她們的相貌外表要經(jīng)過評(píng)估，同時(shí)她們還必須具有無畏無懼的品質(zhì)。據(jù)說，她們會(huì)被關(guān)在一間放著被砍下的動(dòng)物頭顱的黑房子里，她們要走進(jìn)房間，然后……

主持人：在那里過夜之類的？

記者：……在里面呆上一兩個(gè)小時(shí)。勇敢的女孩子據(jù)說是確有神性的。這就是他們挑選女神的過程。