Cosmography and Geography in Early Indian Literature c6.s5.37

c6.s5.37

Prāgjyotiṣa in the North with other Himalayan territories like the Strīrājya which is mentioned in various sources. The name of the Strīrājya (kingdom of the women) reminds us of the belief among the Newars of Nepal that their country belongs to the Kumārī (a young girl elected from time to time and worshipped as the living form of Kālī or Durgā) so that the king has to take every year a fresh mandate from her to rule the land. There are Kumārīs of lesser importance worshipped at every bihāl (vihāra) of the Newars. See Gopal Singh Nepali, The Newars, reviewed in Swarajya, March, 1966, p. 27. See also the women’s country in the Himalayas mentioned in Hiuen-tsang’s Si-yu-ki to be cited below.