Nepal chooses a 2-year-old girl as new living goddess worshipped by both Hindus and Buddhists

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A two-year-old girl chosen as Nepal’s new living goddess was carried by family members from their home in a Kathmandu alley to a temple palace Tuesday during the country's longest and most significant Hindu festival.

Aryatara Shakya, at 2 years and 8 months, was chosen as the new Kumari or “virgin goddess,” replacing the incumbent who is considered by tradition to become a mere mortal upon reaching puberty.

Kumaris are chosen from the Shakya clans of the Newar community, indigenous to the Kathmandu valley, and revered by both Hindus and Buddhists in the predominantly Hindu nation.

The girls are selected between the ages of 2 and 4 and are required to have unblemished skin, hair, eyes and teeth. They should not be afraid of the dark.

During the Indra Jatra festival earlier this month, the former Kumari was wheeled around on a chariot pulled by devotees. The Kumari always wears red, pins up her hair in topknots and has a “third eye” painted on their forehead.

The weeklong Indra Jatra festival was the first of a series of celebrations including Dashain, the main festival, and Tihar or Diwali, the festival of lights, in October.

Tuesday marked the eighth day of Dashain, a 15-day celebration of the victory of good over evil. Offices and schools were closed as people celebrated with their families.

Family, friends and devotees paraded the new Kumari through the streets of Kathmandu before entering the temple palace which will be her home for several years.

Devotees lined up to touch the girls’ feet with their foreheads, the highest sign of respect among Hindus in the Himalayan nation, and offered her flowers and money. The new Kumari will bless devotees including the president on Thursday.

“She was just my daughter yesterday, but today she is a goddess,” said her father Ananta Shakya.

He said there were already signs she would be the goddess before her birth.

“My wife during pregnancy dreamed that she was a goddess and we knew she was going to be someone very special,” he said.

The former Kumari Trishna Shakya, now aged 11 years old, left from a rear entrance on a palanquin carried by her family and supporters. She became the living goddess in 2017.

Families of the Shakya clan who qualify for this prestigious seat compete to have their daughters selected. The family of the Kumari gains an elevated position in society and within their own clan.

But Kumaris live a sequestered life. They have few selected playmates and are allowed outside only a few times a year for festivals.

Former Kumaris face difficulties adjusting to normal life, learning to do chores and attending regular schools. According to Nepalese folklore, men who marry a former Kumari will die young, and so many girls remain unmarried.

Over the past few years, there have been many changes in tradition and the Kumari is now allowed to receive an education from private tutors inside the temple palace and even have a television set.

The government also now offers retired Kumaris a small monthly pension of about $110 which is slightly above the minimum wage fixed by the government.

Tourists watch as Nepal's newly appointed living goddess, Kumari Aryatara Shakya, is carried toward Kumari Ghar, the temple palace where she will be residing in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Nepal's newly appointed living goddess, Kumari Aryatara Shakya, is carried toward Kumari Ghar, the temple palace where she will be residing in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Nepal's newly appointed living goddess, Kumari Aryatara Shakya, is carried by her father as they walk towards Kumari Ghar, the temple palace where she will be residing in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Nepal's newly appointed living goddess, Kumari Aryatara Shakya, is carried by her father and mother as they pose for photographs at their personal residence in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Nepal's newly appointed living goddess, Kumari Aryatara Shakya, is carried by her family member as they get ready to walk towards Kumari Ghar, the temple palace where she will be residing in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Vote counting was underway Friday in Uganda’s tense presidential election, which was held a day earlier amid an internet shutdown, voting delays and complaints by an opposition leader who said some of his polling agents had been detained by the authorities.

Opposition leader Bobi Wine said Thursday he was unable to leave his house and that his polling agents in rural areas were abducted before voting started, undermining his efforts to prevent electoral offenses such as ballot stuffing.

Wine is hoping to end President Yoweri Museveni's four-decade rule in an election during which the military was deployed and heavy security was posted outside his house near Kampala, the Ugandan capital, after the vote.

The musician-turned-politician wrote on X on Thursday that a senior party official in charge of the western region had been arrested, adding there was “massive ballot stuffing everywhere.”

Rural Uganda, especially the western part of the country, is a ruling-party stronghold, and the opposition would be disadvantaged by not having polling agents present during vote counting.

To try to improve his chances of winning, Wine had urged his supporters to “protect the vote” by having witnesses document alleged offenses at polling stations, in addition to deploying official polling agents.

Wine faced similar setbacks when he first ran for president five years ago. Museveni took 58% of the vote, while Wine got 35%, according to official results. Wine said at the time that the election had been rigged in favor of Museveni, who has spoken disparagingly of his rival.

Museveni, after voting on Thursday, said the opposition had infiltrated the 2021 election and defended the use of biometric machines as a way of securing the vote in this election.

Museveni has served the third-longest tenure of any African leader and is seeking to extend his rule into a fifth decade. The aging president’s authority has become increasingly dependent on the military, which is led by his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

Uganda has not witnessed a peaceful transfer of presidential power since independence from British colonial rule six decades ago.

Voters line up to cast their ballots at a polling station, during the presidential election, in the capital, Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Election officials count ballots after the polls closed for the presidential election at a polling station in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

An election official holds up unmarked ballots during the vote count after polls closed for the presidential election, at a polling center in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

A political representative speaks as he works to observe and verify the counting of ballots after polls closed in the presidential election at a polling station in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

A supporter of leading opposition candidate Bobi Wine cheers while watching election officials count ballots, after polls closed at a polling station in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)