ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates how even in a cult of quite explicitly virginal girls, a basic ambiguity is still apparent. It argues that the ambiguous nature of the goddess, both in Nepal and India is paralleled by a similar ambiguity in the Hindu conception of the female role. In a society in which status is explicitly defined in terms of relative purity, high value bas inevitably been accorded to the young girl as yet unsullied by blood, sex or childbirth. Both Buddhism and Hinduism have ancient roots in Kathmandu valley. The relative popularity of the two religions has varied from time to time, largely in accordance with changes in royal patronage. The selection of the new royal Kumari is a complex affair controlled by a formal committee of eight ritual specialists. Those eligible to be chosen are the daughters of all male Sakya who have membership of one of the 15 main ex-monasteries of Kathmandu.
