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Today started with the breakfast of champions: bread and bottled water. We're probably being too cautious, but we want to make sure we don't have any stomach problems before our Everest trek. We toured Kathmandu, stopping at the monkey monastery (so-named because monkeys hang around, literally) and the Temple of the Living Goddess. An ancient belief is that the goddess Kumari temporarily resides in the body of a local girl. A girl is chosen at age 4 or 5 to be the 'Living Goddess' until she reaches puberty. If you're wondering what it takes to be a 'Living goddess' the minimum requirements are: immaculate health, unblemished skin, black or blue eyes, black hair with curls turning to the right, eyelashes like 'those of a cow,' slender arms, and brilliant white teeth. Once chosen, the Living goddess lives in the temple until she menstruates. To maintain her purity, she can't leave the temple (or even go down to the ground floor) except for religious ceremonies when she is carried through the streets (her feet can't touch the ground). We were lucky enough to see the Living goddess when she came to the window. She looked a little grouchy but she was definitely a cute little girl.
Temple of the Living Goddess. She appears in the middle window at request (Leave a tip in tipbox if she appears).
Jill in front of the 'Monkey' temple, named for the monkeys climbing all over the place. Lot of birds flying around here too.