Book
Title: Sacred Sins: Devadasis in Contemporary India
Author: Arun Ezhuthachan
Translator: Meera Gopinath
Publisher: Hatchette India, 2023
Pages: 239
India has never been magnanimous to women. Ancient
India was quite brutal in the treatment of women with such practices as sati
and devadasi. If a woman was unfortunate to outlive her husband, she had to
immolate herself on her man’s funeral pyre. The men who made that rule made
sure that the rule, like many others of the kind, had divine sanction. The
husband’s death when the wife is still alive indicates the sins of the woman’s
vagina. The punishment decreed by the gods is the woman’s death. After her
death, she will be made a goddess!
Adolescent girls were dedicated to
temples in the name of devadasis, maids of gods. These girls were expected to
live their life worshipping goddess Durga in her various avatars though it
could be any other deity as well. In reality, however, these girls were
exploited sexually by upper caste men. The girls came from impoverished low
caste families that couldn’t afford to care for girls whose marriages would be
expensive affairs.
The inhuman practice of sati was abolished
in 1829 by the British government in India. The Devadasi system was abolished in
independent India. Many other evil practices such as the caste system were also
abolished, but quite many of them continue to be in practice. Even the devadasi
system didn’t end altogether with the abolition.
The Supreme Court of India passed an
order on 12 Feb 2016 asking the Karnataka government to ensure that not a single
girl was made a devadasi on the full moon night of the month of Magha, as it
used to be done hitherto. The order was motivated by a feature that had been
published in the Sunday magazine of the Malayala Manorama newspaper on 2
Feb 2014. That feature, titled What have we done to be made devadasis?,
was written by Arun Ezhuthachan, a Manorama reporter.
Ezhuthachan’s interest in Mangaluru’s
dance bars, particularly the girls who danced there, was aroused by the
abolition of dance bars there in 2008. What did these female dancers do once
the bars were shut down? They turned to prostitution, as Ezhuthachan discovered
soon. What struck him more is the fact that Divya, the sex worker he made an
appointment with, had started her ‘career’ as a devadasi.
Are there devadasis still in India? Ezhuthachan’s investigations threw up many surprises. The pilgrimage town of Uchangi in Karnataka initiated adolescent girls as devadasis every year on the full moon in the month of Magha. It was illegal since Karnataka had banned the devadasi system in 1982. “Bans exist only on paper,” as a local man instructs Ezhuthachan. “Can the government prohibit divine customs?”
Powerful men decide which custom is
divine and which diabolic, according to their choice and convenience. The
devadasi system served the purpose of these upper caste men whose lust required
satiation all too frequently. The devadasi system, in other words, was prostitution
with divine sanction.
Ezhuthachan continued his
investigations. This book being reviewed here is a product of his enquiries.
Originally written in Malayalam, this book won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award
in 2019. It was translated into English in 2023 by Meera Gopinath. Both
Ezhuthachan and his translator have done a remarkable job.
The devadasi system is not practised
anymore in most parts of India. But Ezhuthachan’s researches take him to the
notorious red-light areas of India such as Sonagachi in Kolkata and Kamathipura
in Mumbai. The very size of Sonagachi’s sex market will astound us: 12,118 sex
workers offer their services in 1083 buildings! Most of these women were
abandoned by their families either as children dedicated to temple service or
as young widows.
There are also other places such as
Vrindavan in Mathura (Uttar Pradesh) and Puri in Odisha where the women have
better fates. They are not sexually exploited, not apparently at least. This
book takes us also to a few other places where sex and spirituality and sheer commerce
mingle seamlessly.
Poverty is the main cause of such
evils. The caste system ensures that the low caste people remain inescapably poor.
The entire system is made in such a way that the upper caste men [men, I
repeat] are the ultimate beneficiaries. Even little girls who haven’t attained
puberty are at the mercy of these powerful men who pretend to have divine
authority to do whatever they wish.
India claims to be doing a lot for
the empowerment of women. In spite of all the hullaballoo and deafening
slogans, child marriages are taking place in many states where the present ruling
party has much influence. If they can’t be made devadasis, they will be made
child-brides. One way or the other, the girl has to be got rid of as early as
possible. Empowerment remains in catchy jingles and beautiful billboards.
A lot of human suffering, especially
female suffering, remains unseen and untold, as the book concludes. India has a
long way to go in spite of all the noise she has been making in the last ten
years.
Great article sir! Only if the government could eradicate poverty, there would be a decrease in such things. It is indeed saddening to hear that such practices and red-light areas still remain in our country.
ReplyDeletePoverty is a very profitable industry for the government and the corporates. That's why it will always be there with us.
DeleteHari Om
ReplyDeleteAs ever, you are on the nailhead with your observation...YAM xx
I'm thrilled you find time to read me in spite of your schedule.
DeleteLife is difficult in India more so if your are a woman and from a low caste and from a minority. It's the pits. You are left plumbing the depths of inhumanity.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately Indians are being hoodwinked by too many slogans.
DeleteI am horrified. You'd think such practices would have been done away with years ago, but no. The powerful like to keep the poor and weak down if they possibly can.
ReplyDeletePower is always about exploitation, I think. Those who love power also love to see people as subjects.
DeleteThis is a very powerful book that should be adapted for movies to wake up millions. I wish divinity should never become a source of threat. A fair complexion invites such troubles for the most part, I think. A Godman entered one such girl's life. He appreciated her intelligence at a young age of 12 years.Then started paying special attention to her spiritual growth. At one point of time, he spoke about his dream which premonitioned the said girl (then 17) being kidnapped, gangraped and slaughtered and thrown to vultures near a sea shore! That's was that. She was not allowed to stir out of her house for three months, home-prisoned till the bad time lapsed. Later, the godman showed the family a picture of several girls nabbed on the charges of being sex workers. He spotted one of them and claimed that it is none other than the said girl. The family anyway had complete faith in this girl and vehemently opposed this charge and left him alive only because of his proven records of being a God man. After several years, it transpired that this elderly man wanted to marry the nubile girl as she would make a perfect companion for him in his spiritual journey!!!
ReplyDeleteAt another point of time, the same girl proved herself to be a good sadak or a meditator of real worth. Instantly, a woman advises the girl's father to dedicate this girl for spiritual services and not arrange for her marriage. Somehow the father was clear and retaliated the suggestion by asking her if she would entertain such a plan for her own daughter. When are people going to wake up from this slumber called blind faith? Can't a girl marry and pursue spirituality?
ReplyDeleteThere's still a lot of exploitation of girls in India in the name of religion, especially by godmen and others of the sort. Our politicians are in cahoots with the whole system.
DeleteThe example you mention is not singular. I know of similar incidents that happened in Kerala too.