As the name Devadasi suggests, Deva means God and Dasi means Slave or servant (Lit. translated servants/slave of God) In any religion, A servant of God is respected and honored at the highest carder possible! And same was with the Devadasis. These women were married off to an Idol in the temple as soon as they hit puberty and lived a virgin life worshipping the gods through their dance. Although many of these girls were Dalits, They had a respectful place in the society, even to the extent of being invited to bless the marriages and their mere presence was considered auspicious!
However, the devadasis were forced into sexual activities, most of which started during the British-colonial period. As much a demeaning situation was one couldn't distinguish a Devadasi from a street hogger. They were exploited by their dance teachers, landlords to every idiotic man in the village!
The Devadasi system was a classic example of once legal but forced prostitution and women exploitation in India. This was outlawed in 1988, additionally, the IPC's that eliminating human trafficking come in handy, rescuing these women. Though many families that come down from the genealogy of devadasis aren't respected in the rural area, they are exploited and abused, some still treated as harlots!
In a small discussion with a friend, she said, that devadasis had sexual relations with consent before they were exploited. The British believed in having sexual relations only among the married couple, and rest were banned! And so, the fall of devadasis started! However, in the end, The devadasi families were exploited and kids born of them, Both girls and boys, were forced to be prostitutes and gigolos.
Respecting our culture includes respecting our devadasi families else, we would be mere hypocrites.
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