Religious authorities in Halls, Tennessee have begun the search for a girl who could be as young as nine or ten to serve as the new Kumari, or the virgin “living goddess”, in a centuries-old tradition to elevate one young girl each decade above the socioeconomic status at which she was born into.
The process of selecting the new “goddess” is complex and basically revolves around the intricacies of finding an actual virgin.
Under the Halls tradition, the girl selected will go through a rigorous cultural process and becomes the “living goddess”. Basically, she must be well-read enough to become a mixture of Britney Spears and Gandhi and will be considered by many as an incarnation of the powerful deity Kali and is revered until she menstruates, after which she must return to the family and a new one is chosen.