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

Reporter： Well， the living goddess， whos actually referred to as a “Kumari Baby，” is a young girl whos chosen as young as three or four years of age， and she lives a lifestyle of seclusion. Shes actually revered as a goddess. The Nepali Hindus and Buddhas believe her to actually have the incarnation of the Hindu God Durga within her body， so she is considered an actual goddess. Therere 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 shes sort of given this role as a divine being.

Hostess： So how is she chosen？

Reporter： Well， actually， thats 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 its 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 conch shell， they have to have a strong body， they have to have perfect teeth， so theyre evaluated for their looks and also for their fearlessness. Its said that they are put in a dark room with severed animal heads in front of them， and theyre 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 thats how they actually choose these goddesses.

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

Reporter： No， youre not. Youre actually a Kumari until you hit puberty， so these girls will end their term when theyre 12 or 13， and then theyre 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 theyve 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， its very difficult for her to interact with society.

Hostess： So is a Kumari able to get married？

Reporter： Well， its 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 dont worry about it as much as they did in the past.

主持人：在尼泊尔，人们会挑选一位女孩当活女神，她会受到众人的顶礼膜拜;不过，她也过着与世隔绝的生活。“活女神”究竟是什么意思？

记者：嗯，活女神被人们称为“库玛丽女孩儿”。她是一名年幼的女孩子，会在三、四岁的时候被挑选出来，并过着与世隔绝的生活。她确实被人们敬为女神。尼泊尔的印度教徒和佛教徒认为她事实上就是印度教杜尔加女神的化身，因此她被视为真正的女神。实际上尼泊尔有不少活女神，最有名的要数首都加德满都的活女神。尼泊尔的每个社区都有自己的活女神，在各地社区生活的人们都会寻求女神的祝福，会向女神朝拜，向她表达敬意。因此，她拥有神一样的地位。

主持人：她是怎么被挑选出来的呢？

记者：嗯，问得好。挑选过程据说相当严格。尼泊尔大部分库玛丽都出自释迦部族。在挑选活女神的时候，部族所有出身最高贵的女孩子全部集中在一起，族里的神职人员让她们经受一系列考验，包括要确保她们脖子的形状十分完美。有些人说她们的脖子形状必须像海螺壳一样，她们必须有强壮的身体，她们得有无缺陷的牙齿，她们的相貌外表要经过评估，同时她们还必须具有无畏无惧的品质。据说，她们会被关在一间放着被砍下的动物头颅的黑房子里，她们要走进房间，然后……

主持人：在那里过夜之类的？

记者：……在里面呆上一两个小时。勇敢的女孩子据说是确有神性的。这就是他们挑选女神的过程。

主持人：标准好苛刻啊。那么，一个女孩子一旦被选中成为库玛丽，那她会终生都是库玛丽吗？

记者：不是的。库玛丽的生活到青春期就会结束，所以这些女孩子的库玛丽任期到了十二、三岁就会终止，她们会回到社会，重新过正常人的生活，她们又变成了凡人。这个时候，下一位活女神的挑选过程又开始了。不过，女孩子在任库玛丽期间是不能外出与朋友一起玩耍的。她的活动范围就是自己居住的地方。她可以有一名家教。近年来，他们会让库玛丽接受教育。以前，她们连这个机会也被剥夺了。但她依然过着孤独的生活，所以当她重新再过上凡人生活后，要与社会交流就会非常困难。

主持人：她们可以结婚吗？

记者：呃，男人娶库玛丽会被看成是一件晦气的事，所以许多男人认为如果娶了曾经是库玛丽的女孩，他们就会早死。不过近年来，不少库玛丽渐渐地也结婚了，有些库玛丽的丈夫活得还挺长。所以今天的库玛丽结婚是沒有问题的，因为人们不再有以前那样的担心了。