INDIA, June 29,2002: This report on the life of India’s devadasis, which may not be a subject everyone wants to read about, begins: “Lakshmi must have been stunning once — her high, prominent cheek bones and hazel eyes hint at beauty. But that was before she was ravaged by AIDS. Now her body is emaciated — her skin shrivelled. Two hours after her death she looks nothing like the bright vivacious 20-year-old her mother remembers.” Lakshmi was a victim of a once commonplace system, now outlawed, but still thriving in isolated parts of southern India. As a devadasis, or servants of God, she was dedicated at puberty to the Goddess Yellamma. Her mother, struggling with poverty, accepted the advice of the local priest. At the age of 12, Lakshmi became a concubine for a 60-year-old man. Like all devadasis, Lakshmi was in effect married to the deity, Yellamma. She was expected to carry out rituals at the village temple, and to sing and dance at festivals. She was invited to all the village’s social functions, considered incomplete without a devadasi. Evil spirits are said to cling to them, sparing the guests. But a devadasi’s principle occupation — in the eyes of many — is the flesh trade, though strictly speaking, there is a difference between a concubine and a prostitute. Many from poverty stricken families end up as prostitutes in Bombay after being lured by tales of easy money. Once in Bombay’s infamous Kamatipura area the women live and work in rat-infested brothels. Here, drug addiction and AIDS are commonplace. Devadasis have a peculiar position among Kamatipura’s underclass. They have a divine mandate for what they do, but they also have little choice. After independence the Indian government banned the practice, but there are still tens of thousands of devadasis.
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