Greetings

Thank you for visiting the photo exhibition, “Kumari and Newari Festivals: Goddesses Living in the Modern Age." This exhibition is a record of the work of me, Satoshi Tokui, a photographer, children’s art class instructor, and illustrator, who was captivated by the Kumari, the living goddess of Nepal. Since my first visit to Nepal in September 2024, I have met 15 Kumaris during three subsequent visits, and through these activities, I have learned about other aspects of Nepalese culture, particularly the culture and festivals of the Newari people, and captured them on camera.

What kind of being is a Kumari, who possesses a third eye on her forehead, embodies both Hindu and Buddhist goddesses, and is worshipped as a living goddess only while she is a girl? In my pursuit of their images, I had an unforgettable moment. When one Kumari gazed upon me, I couldn’t help but clasp my hands together and pray. I felt a sense of awe, as if she could see right through me. A young girl is the most capable vessel for a goddess. In that moment, as if witnessing the words spoken in Tantric Buddhism, I truly felt a great presence, perhaps even a goddess, within that young girl.

Nepal is a country where the gods and people’s lives are so closely intertwined that it is said there are more gods than people, more temples than houses, and more festivals than days in a year. Interestingly, there are many similarities between the culture of the Newar people, who worship Kumari and have built the core culture of Nepal, and the culture of us Japanese. The Newar have a living goddess, Kumari, a young girl, and in Japan, there was once a living god, Oohouri, a young boy at Suwa-Taisya Shrine, and at Ise-Jingu Shrine, there were girls called Monoimi who served the gods, living within the Monoimi house and only taking on that role before their starting of periods.

These traditions disappeared during Japan’s modernization, but Nepal, too, is now being swept up in the great waves of global transformation. Some Kumaris have lost their religious foundations, making succession difficult and leading to their extinction. Meanwhile, drones fly over the Kumaris in spite of she is a goddess during festivals, and some Kumaris are adept at using social media. In this ever-changing era, what will become of the living goddess Kumari? Will her divinity be preserved and passed down? I hope that through this photo exhibition, you will be able to experience a glimpse of the living goddesses Kumaris and Newari culture that I have encountered.

Why am I pursuing Kumari so relentlessly, dedicating so much time and effort to her? Someone taught me the meaning of “Oshikatsu," and I finally understood. Oshikatsu is a word that has recently emerged in Japan, and it refers to the activity of strongly supporting a particular being or entity. My “Oshikatsu" is the Oshikatsu of Kumari, the living goddess of Nepal. It’s a little unusual to be able to say that, isn’t it?