She is both a mother and a girl.

Kumari, meaning “virgin" or “girl" in Sanskrit, is a living goddess worshipped by the Newar people. She is chosen from among Buddhist girls, but to Hindus she is the goddess of war Durga, Taleju, or Kali, and to Buddhists she is the incarnation of the goddess of compassion Vajra Devi or Basundara Devi, thus transcending religious boundaries and being revered by both faiths.

The most famous is the Royal Kumari, who lives in the Kumari House in Durbar Square in the capital city of Kathmandu. She is chosen from among girls of the Shakya clan, considered descendants of Buddha, and is typically a girl of around 3-4 years old who has met astrological criteria and 32 physical characteristics required of a Kumari, known as Batislakchhen. After undergoing a ceremony, she becomes the Royal Kumari and leaves her parents to live in the Kumari House. The Kumari is considered to be averse to the defilement of blood, and the goddess is believed to reside in the body of an innocent girl before her first menstruation; therefore, she is replaced by the next Kumari around the age of 12.

The Royal Kumari leaves her residence only 13 times a year, for festivals and ceremonies. Even then, she is not allowed to touch the ground; she walks on a white cloth, is carried, or travels in a golden palanquin. At other times, she lives within the residence, performing daily rituals and receiving prayers from people who come with problems or wishes.

The Kumari’s every action is believed to foreshadow the future, directly linked to civil war, the spread of disease, disasters, and misfortunes of those in power; therefore, she never laughs or cries in public. It is said that in the past, the National Assembly was convened based on the Kumari’s behavior.

Besides the Royal Kumari, in the Kathmandu Valley, there are also local Kumaris in several towns and villages such as Bhaktapur, Patan, and Bungamati, who are worshipped in their own unique ways. Until the abolition of the monarchy in 2008, the Royal Kumari, on the final day of the Indra Jatra festival, bestowed a tika upon the king, signifying his legitimacy as the guardian deity of the nation and his right to rule. Therefore, the Royal Kumari is the most famous Kumari, but she is not necessarily the oldest; local Kumaris often have older histories and unique, important roles. Even the Newar people don’t know where each Kumari is located, making their existence difficult to ascertain. Furthermore, in Newar culture, there is a custom of worshipping girls from ordinary families as Kumaris on specific days; in a sense, all Newar girls could be considered Kumaris.

For the Newar people, the Kumari is a mother figure, the counterpart to Lord Shiva, believed to embody Shakti, the source of cosmic life energy. She is affectionately called Kumari Mata (Mother Kumari) and is an indispensable presence. The Kumari is both mother and girl. She is both a goddess of war and a goddess of compassion. She is a living goddess, a rare figure in the world, whose existence is intertwined with the history of Nepal.