A three-year-old girl has become Nepal’s new living goddess, revered by both Hindus and Buddhists in the Himalayan nation.
Trishna Shakya was carried in a religious ceremony to a temple palace in the heart of the Nepalese capital where she is to live until just before puberty.
She was among four final contestants from the Shakya clan for the position of living goddess, called “Kumari.”
Soon after Trishna’s arrival at the temple palace, her predecessor, 12-year-old Matina Shakya, left from a rear entrance on a palanquin carried by her family and supporters.
The ceremony took place on the eighth day of the two-week-long Dasain festival, the main festival in Nepal.
