Goddess Kumari and the Sleeping King

In the old city of Patan, before the valley roads were paved and the cars arrived, there lived a king who was devoted to the goddess Kumari. Each evening he would go to the Kumari Ghar and play dice with the living goddess — for the Kumari, the pure pre-pubescent girl in whom the goddess Taleju resided, was said to delight in games.

One evening the king fell asleep during their game. In his dream, the goddess appeared in her true form — terrible and radiant, with eyes that saw past death. She told the king that his city would prosper for as long as her living vessel was respected, and would fall into misfortune the moment the people forgot the sacred covenant.

The king woke alone. The dice were arranged on the board in a pattern he had never seen — neither a win nor a loss, but something in between.

He took it as a warning. He commissioned the great golden gate that still stands in Patan Durbar Square, inscribed with a prayer to Taleju. And he ordered that the Kumari festival, Kumar