Mon Sep 08 10:10:00 UTC 2025: **Summary:**

The Associated Press reports from Kathmandu, Nepal, on the start of the Indra Jatra festival. Eight-year-old Trishna Shakya, the current Kumari (living goddess), was carried in a palanquin and later rode a chariot through the city center, blessing devotees. Selected as Kumari at age 3, Shakya has lived in the temple palace for five years, rarely leaving and never touching the ground outside. Kumaris are chosen from young girls within the Buddhist Newar community and revered by both Hindus and Buddhists in Nepal. Indra Jatra is the first in a series of upcoming major Nepalese festivals.

**News Article:**

**Living Goddess Carried Through Kathmandu to Kick Off Indra Jatra Festival**

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Tens of thousands gathered in Kathmandu, Nepal, Saturday as eight-year-old Trishna Shakya, the nation’s living goddess or “Kumari,” was paraded through the city center to mark the beginning of the Indra Jatra festival.

Dressed in ornate finery and adorned with the traditional vermillion paste and golden “third eye,” Shakya, who has served as Kumari since the age of three, was first carried from the temple palace before being placed on a chariot. Devotees then pulled the elaborately decorated chariot, bedecked with marigolds, through the streets, as crowds captured the moment on their phones, hoping to receive a blessing from the young goddess.

The selection of a Kumari, meaning “virgin” in Nepali, is a tradition where young girls, sometimes as young as two, are chosen from Buddhist families within the Newar community of the Kathmandu Valley. Kumaris are revered by both Hindus and Buddhists in the predominantly Hindu nation.

During their time as Kumari, the girls live in a temple palace and rarely leave its grounds. When they do venture out for festivals and rituals, tradition dictates that their feet never touch the ground; they are carried or transported in a palanquin.

The week-long Indra Jatra festival is the first in a series of major celebrations taking place in Nepal in the coming months, including Dasain, the main festival, and Tihar (Diwali), the festival of lights.

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