There were two petitions concerning a native community (the Newars) in Nepal recently. There is a religious tradition of selecting Buddhist girls of childhood age to represent the Hindu goddess Taleju. This ritual is used to unite the Buddhist and Hindu community. However, one petition from the Nepalese supreme court is calling this a violation of human rights as the girls are required to abdicate until they hit puberty. They are also deprived of contact with their natural family and formal education. The other petition is supporting it, saying to deny it would be to deny the Newars their right to religious freedom. Former "Kumaris" (girls who are selected as goddesses) report no ill will towards the experience, other than a slight regret at the lack of formal education and some difficulty in the transition.
At least one of the recent group of Kumaris went on to receive a degree.
More info here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20070102/wl_csm/ogoddess
What's your opinion?
2007-01-02 16:27:50 · 3 answers · asked by JudasHero 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
"Thousands of years" is a bit of an exaggeration. I believe, according to the article, it's been going on since the 7th century.
2007-01-02 16:40:29 · update #1
Wow I bet they been doing that for what you think thousands of years and now it's getting bad press.
2007-01-02 16:37:05 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think that it is wrong to take children away from their parents just for religious rituals.
2007-01-03 00:33:18 · answer #2 · answered by Gidget 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Truth is stranger than fiction.
2007-01-03 00:32:42 · answer #3 · answered by ? 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋