'Living goddess' survives Nepal quake

When a devastating quake hit Nepal last week, a nine-year-old girl worshipped as a living goddess was preparing to receive devotees at her home in the heart of Kathmandu's Durbar Square.

As the earth shook, the ancient temples and statues that packed the square collapsed, sending a massive cloud of rubble and dust into the air. But the home of the living goddess, or Kumari, escaped with just a few cracks.

"She protected us," said Durga Shakya, the 55-year-old caretaker of the Kumari house, who like all her entourage is from the Newar community indigenous to the Kathmandu valley.

"Look around, the Kumari home is intact. There is a little crack on the other side, but otherwise nothing has happened," she told AFP in Kathmandu.

"Even inside, nothing has fallen down, everything is fine."

The Kumari, a pre-pubescent Newar girl, lives in isolation in her small palace and emerges only on feast days when she is paraded through Kathmandu in ceremonial dress.

The popular tradition combines elements of Hinduism and Buddhism and selection criteria are strict.

Priests say that to become a Kumari, a girl must have a number of specific physical attributes including an unblemished body, a chest like a lion and thighs like a deer.

Even if they fulfil all the physical requirements, aspiring Kumaris must then prove their bravery by not crying at the sight of a sacrificed buffalo.

Kamal Tara Shakya, a 48-year-old Newar woman who looks after the young girl in her palace, said she appeared unafraid when the quake hit.

Once the shaking subsided, Shakya took the young girl to the courtyard of the house where they have remained ever since for fear of aftershocks causing further destruction.

Nepal Quake Key Facts

Death toll

6,621 people killed in Nepal, 14,023 injured

More than 100 killed in neighbouring countries

12 European killed, 1,000 missing

Survivours

8m people have been affected

2.8m people displaced

More than 3.5m estimated to be in need of food assistance

1.7 m children are in need of humanitarian aid 

Aid Pledges &  Needs

Rescuers from 22 countries are involved in the relief effort while $61 m has been pledged

The UN has appealed for $415 million 

Reconstruction

160,786 homes destroyed and another 143,673 damaged

Some 16,000 schools damaged 

Reconstruction costs could top $5 billion