In Nepal, a nine-year-old girl is worshipped as a Virgin Goddess. It is she, the custom says, who gives the King his power to rule. At an annual festival every September she blesses the King by marking him on the forehead. But this year? With the King stripped of power and shunned by diplomats, no one knows. Democracy is coming to the last Hindu Kingdom and the future of the Goddess and the King are delicately intertwined.
