Kathmandu: A Nepali girl revered by many as a "living goddess" or Kumari is taking her high school leaving exam, the first test by a sitting "deity" in a centuries-old tradition, the Himalayan Times daily said on Friday.
Girls from Kathmandu's Newar community are chosen by Buddhist priests to serve as "living goddesses" confined to temples in the three ancient cities of the Kathmandu valley, home to the Nepali capital.
Critics of the practice say the tradition abuses the children's human rights leaving them unprepared to face real life after retirement on puberty.
Two years ago, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the government to ensure basic health care and education for the Kumaris or the virgin "deities".
Chanira Bajracharya, the Kumari of Patan, a neighbouring town south of Kathmandu, was among nearly half a million children who started taking their school-leaving certificate exam on Thursday.
She was given private tuition in the temple, caretakers said.
"English is an easy subject for me. I could answer all the questions," Chanira was quoted by the daily as saying.
Newspapers also published a picture of her taking the exam, her eyes rimmed in black and a third eye painted on her forehead.
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