WUNRN
Devadasi (Sanskrit: देवदासी, translation:
"Servant of God") originally described a Hindu religious
practice in which girls were "married" to a deity or temple. In
addition to taking care of the temple, they learned and practiced Bharatnatyam
and other classical Indian arts traditions, and enjoyed a high social status.
In modern India the tradition has become associated with commercial sexual
exploitation, as described in a report by the National Human Rights Commission
of the Government of India. The devadasi system was outlawed in all of
India in 1988.
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INDIA - DEVADASI TEMPLE GODDESS
PROSTITUTES - OUTLAWED BUT EXIST
By Leah Hyslop
20 September 2010
An
ancient tradition which sees girls dedicated to a lifetime of 'religious
prostitution' has become a big business on the streets of southern
It was in 2009
that Sarah Harris first made the acquaintance of
“One day, I walked into a meeting
at an NGO,” she recalls, “and there were a group of women sitting there, whom I
assumed were prostitutes. But later, someone told me that they were actually devadasi
or “servants of god”; religious prostitutes, and part of an ancient Hindu
tradition. It was at that point my interest was piqued.”
Deciding that the devadasi
would make an interesting subject for a documentary, Harris began to research
the custom’s history, concentrating particularly on the state of Karnataka. She
discovered that the tradition there stretched back as long ago as the sixth
century, when young girls, often from wealthy backgrounds, were dedicated to
local temples. After going through a dedication ceremony which
"married" them to the fertility goddess Yellamma, they would act as
temple care-takers: performing rituals in honour of their goddess, as well as
dancing and playing music for the entertainment of wealthy locals.
Over time, however, the tradition
began to change, and the devadasi became less respected. “Many ended up
becoming the mistress of a particular ‘patron’ - often a royal, or nobleman -
as well as serving in the temple," says Harris, "and eventually, the
connection with the temple became severed altogether. Today, although there are
still many women called devadasi, and who have been dedicated to the
goddess, a lot of them are essentially prostitutes.”
So how did the devadasi
fall from grace? “The practice was outlawed in
As research for her documentary, Prostitutes
of God, Harris and her team spent several months tracking down and meeting
some of the estimated 23,000 devadasi in Karnataka. Getting access to
the women posed a challenge, but Sarah’s experience working for NGOs managed to
provide her with several leads. Out of those she interviewed, nearly all cited
economic need rather than religious tradition as the main reason behind their
chosen path.
“Many devadasi are sold
into the sex trade by their families,” she says. “The parents know that they’re
not really giving their children to be religious servants, but they turn a
blind eye. The only devadasi I met who saw the tradition as strictly
religious was a rather bizarre cross-dressing male version, who claimed to
spend several hours a day in prayer.”
The most interesting fact yielded
by Harris’ investigation was how female-driven the industry is. “It’s very much
women recruiting women. When the devadasi become older and can’t attract
the same business, they end up trafficking, and taking girls from the small
villages to big cities like
Do any make their fortune? “A few
can - a client might pay a few thousand pounds for a night with a virgin devadasi.
But a lot of devadasi in their 30s or 40s are selling sex for about
thirty or forty pence. The strange thing is that though they see themselves as
superior to non-religious prostitutes - and even though they often dress to
look different, with distinctive jewellery and clothes - I don’t think the
clients see much difference.”