Playing Dice

King Jaya Prakash Malla and Goddess Taleju Bhawani playing Dice

 

It appears to have taken hold in Nepal in the 6th century.Jaya Prakash Malla, the last king of Kathmandu was a devotee of Goddess Taleju Bhawani, whose temple stands in Basantapur Durbar Square in Kathmandu, Nepal. According to legend, Taleju Bhawani used to come to Jaya Prakash in human form late at night to play tripasa (dice). But when she realized the king was having lewd thoughts about her, she stopped coming. The King understood what had happened and in repentance carried out purification rituals. Taleju Bhawani then came to him in a dream and told him she would never again appear to him in human form. Instead she ordered him to take a young girl from a Shakya clan, one who had the thirty two qualities and was prepubescent and establish her as the Goddess Kumari. This is now the tradition of Kumar started in Kathmandu during Maya Prakash Malls’s reign. This sketch of mine depicts the same story.

Eligible girls for Kumari are Buddhists from the Newar Shakya caste (the clan to which the Buddha belonged) of silver and goldsmiths. She must be in excellent health, never have shed blood or been afflicted by any diseases, be without blemish and must not have yet lost any teeth. Girls who pass these basic eligibility requirements are examined for the battis lakshanas, or 'thirty-two perfections' of a goddess. Some of these are poetically listed as such:

• A neck like a conch shell
• A body like a banyan tree
• Eyelashes like a cow
• Thighs like a deer
• Chest like a lion
• Voice soft and clear as a duck's

In addition to this, her hair and eyes should be very black, she should have dainty hands and feet, small and well-recessed sexual organs and a set of twenty teeth.The girl is also observed for signs of serenity and fearlessness.

As I came from Shakya clan, I was constantly asked by my friends, out of curiousity, as to what, how and why Kumari came into being and why was it that I did not become one! Henceforth, I decided to sketch one of such events relevant to Kumari and her origin.