Nepal ''Baby God''

[Herer]

Thousands of people are flocking to a remote and mountainous village in Nepal to see a malformed baby which many are now worshipping as a God.

 

Suffering from a rare abnormality, baby Risab has a headless "parasitic twin" attached to his abdomen and was born with four arms and four legs.

 

His impoverished parents say all they want is for Risab to have a "normal body".

 

They are worried that some see the baby not as a blessing but a curse - the reason why monsoon rains are late.

 

'Father of God'

 

Januk Ghimire, the 32-year-old mother of the baby, has had to become used to visitors because thousands have descended on her village since Risab was born in January.

 

To many locals, he is seen as a miracle and revered as the reincarnation of Ganesh, the Hindu elephant God, whose common forms have several arms.

 

"About 5,000 have come altogether. Some from faraway districts, by bus or walking," said Prem KC, a local teacher.

 

As news spread, as many as 100 visitors come every day to see the baby.

 

"Some people, when they see me, they say I'm the father of God," says the baby's father, Rikhi Ghimire, a thin-faced figure with muddy legs from working in the fields.

 

"They come to worship him and give him money. They just give a few rupees, make an offering. Sometimes they give clothes or food".

 

The family of five live in a one-roomed house, a day's walk from the nearest main town, which they share with goats and chickens.

 

Two single beds lie against the walls, while corns hang from the ceiling above a small stove in the corner.

 

Outside the house, Ms Ghimire shoos away her two other young sons as they run around playfully, accidentally knocking the baby's basket.

 

Six months ago, she had no idea her third son would turn out to be so extraordinary.

 

'Killed me'

 

She describes how she was in severe pain for five days before Risab's delivery, believing "that this time, I would die". Risab was born on the porch, where Januk had only her mother by her side as she cried out in pain.

 

"During pregnancy I saw a very abnormal stomach and I was very afraid - not of my family, or of my husband - but of neighbours and how they would talk," she said.

 

"If my husband had not been there, they could have said I had given birth to a witch and come and killed me.

 

"Most of the neighbours came and said it was a God so they told me not to treat it badly and accept it."

 

But Ms Ghimire says most of the villagers are superstitious and - like her - believe in witches.

 

Indeed, her fears are not surprising, with one local Hindu priest openly saying that he believes the baby is a curse on the village and the reason for the late monsoons.

 

"Farmers cannot do agriculture because of that baby," says Sher Bahadur Bodathorki. "It is a curse from God because of a past life".

 

In rural Nepal, the rains are crucial to agriculture and villagers' livelihoods.

 

Teacher Prem KC says the reason that the baby has drawn so much attention is because there is little awareness of such medical conditions in rural Nepal and "villagers cannot understand it".

 

Risab suffers from a rare condition which occurs only one in 50,000 to one in 200,000 births.

 

His father sought medical treatment in Kathmandu but doctors said they would have to monitor Risab for six months.

 

As Mr Ghimire could not afford to be out of work and living in Kathmandu for that period, he had to return home with the child.

 

Hard life

 

"When I first saw him I was worried about whether he would survive and that if I was not in this world who would take care of him," he said.

 

His one wish is for his youngest son to have surgery so he can have a "normal body", but says he cannot imagine ever being able to earn enough to afford the operation, which could cost more than $50,000.

 

"It needs a huge amount of money which I cannot provide. I don't earn much income, just work in field and sometimes I can expect something and sometimes not".

 

Ms Ghimire says she gives Risab to her mother while she toils in the fields during the day, but says the baby is not easy to care for.

 

"It is difficult to bathe him, to oil him, to put him to sleep. We do not have money so we worry we cannot give him what he needs," she said.

 

"Some people say it is because I was sinful [that we had this child] but we didn't do any wrong thing so it should not be a curse," says Januk. "I used to be ashamed, but now I am not."

 

While life is hard, she says, she would never consider putting baby Risab up for adoption.

 

"We would never give him away. If someone wanted to adopt, they would have to adopt us - mother and father - along with him."

 

http://news.bbc.co.u k/2/hi/south_asia/81 97192.stm

[Herer]

Girl God is a tradition of worshipping young girls in Nepal. There are known as Kumari which literally means virgin in Nepali and other Indian languages.

 

The Kumari is revered and worshiped by some of the country's Hindus as well as the Nepali Buddhists.

 

Eligible girls 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 and her horoscope is examined to ensure that it is complementary to the King's. It is important that there not be any conflicts as she must confirm the King's legitimacy each year of her divinity. Her family is also scrutinized to ensure its piety and devotion to the King.

 

Once the priests have chosen a candidate, she must undergo yet more rigorous tests to ensure that she indeed possesses the qualities necessary to be the living vessel of Durga. Her greatest test comes during the Hindu festival of Dashain. On the kalratri, or 'black night', 108 buffaloes and goats are sacrificed to the goddess Kali. The young candidate is taken into the Taleju temple and released into the courtyard, where the severed heads of the animals are illuminated by candlelight and masked men are dancing about. If the candidate truly possesses the qualities of Taleju, she shows no fear during this experience. If she does, another candidate is brought in to attempt the same thing.

 

As a final test, the living goddess must spend a night alone in a room among the heads of ritually slaughtered goats and buffaloes without showing fear. The fearless candidate has proven that she has the serenity and the fearlessness that typifies the goddess who is to inhabit her. After passing all other tests, the final test is that she must be able to pick out the personal belongings of the previous Kumari from an assortment of things laid out before her. If she is able to do so, there is no remaining doubt that she is the chosen one.

 

Having passed all the tests, the child will stay in almost complete isolation at the temple, and will be allowed to return to her family only at the onset of menstruation when a new goddess will be named to replace her.[2]

 

There are claims contrary to the commonly-believed ritual and screening process, however. The ex-Royal Kumari Rashmila Shakya states in her autobiography From Goddess to Mortal (2005) that this has nothing to do with the selection process, but rather is a ritual the Royal Kumari goes through each year, and that there are no men dancing around in masks trying to scare her, and that at most there are only a dozen or so decapitated animal heads in the scary room test. She also describes the requisite physical examination of each Kumari as neither intimate nor rigorous.

 

Once the Kumari is chosen, she must be purified so that she can be an unblemished vessel for Taleju. She is taken by the priests to undergo a number of secret Tantric rituals to cleanse her body and spirit of her past experiences. Once these rituals are completed, Taleju enters her and she is presented as the new Kumari. She is dressed and made up as a Kumari and then leaves the Taleju temple and walks across the square on a white cloth to the Kumari Ghar that will be her home for the duration of her divinity.

[Indhoos]

Wasn't there another child with similar ailment a while ago. I believe her name was lakshami (Sp?), and I think that they had sugically removed the limbs of her headless, parasitic twin from her body....Subxaanallah .

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

That subcontinent and their abnormal fixation of divinity in humans.