“Sex work has had a big impact on me. My body is very weak, I am morally broken,” says Chandrika (her name has been changed to protect her identity).
Chandrika’s life as a sex worker began with a religious ceremony. At the age of 15, she was taken to a temple and ceremonially married off to a goddess.
“At the time, I didn’t understand the significance of the ritual,” she tells the BBC.
Chandrika is now in her thirties and has been having sex for money for nearly two decades.
From God’s bride to prostitute
In the southern Indian state of Karnataka, authorities are using a survey to try to identify women like Chandrika who became sex workers after being ordained as Devadasi.
The tradition of devadasi, or “servants of god,” originated in southern India more than a thousand years ago. At first, they were just left to Chandrika in a brothel.
“The first few months were very difficult. I was throwing up. I couldn’t eat or sleep properly,” Chandrika recalls. “I thought I was going to run away, but gradually I came to terms with it.”
Chandrika was just 19 years old, barely educated and barely understood Hindi or Marathi, which was spoken in Sangli.
“Some (customers. – Ed.) physically attacked me, some used abusive language. I found it difficult to deal with,” she continues.
The brothel’s customers ranged from college students to drivers, lawyers and employees. Chandrika met her partner, a lorry driver, through sex work in Sangli.
The couple has two children – a daughter and a son. Her partner took care of the children while Chandrika continued to work at the brothel, where she received 10 to 15 clients a day.
‘After I refused, after a week they stopped feeding me,’ says Ankita.
“I felt very bad, but I agreed to do it for my family. I dressed up as a bride and married a goddess.”
Ankita holds a necklace of white pearls and red beads to symbolise the union.
Neither her mother nor grandmother were devadasis. The family has a small plot of land, but it is not enough to feed them.
“There is a fear that if none of the family is initiated, the goddess will curse us.”
Devadasis cannot marry, but can have intimate partners who may be legally married to another woman.
Ankita has refused all male advances and still works on the farm, earning about $4 a day.
Photo by Sakhi Trust
Shilpa’s life changed. After initiation, she started a relationship to marry us,” she says.
Poverty and exploitation
Dr M Bhagyalakshmi is the director of local NGO Sakhi Trust and has been working with Devadasi women for over two decades. She says initiation continues despite the ban.
Sakhi Trust photo
“Every year we stop the initiation of three to four Devadasi girls. But most of the ceremonies are done in secret. We only find out when a young girl is pregnant or gives birth to a child,” saysBhagyalakshmi.
She says many women lack basic facilities, do not get food or education, and are too afraid to seek help.
“We interviewed 10,000 devadasi in Vijayanagar district. I saw many women with disabilities, blind women and other vulnerable women who have been pushed into the system. Almost 70 per cent of them are festival-goers, but officials say there is no initiation.
“It is a criminal offence now. During festivals, we put up posters and pamphlets warning people that strict action will be taken,” says Vishwas Vasant Vaidya.
Vaidya is a member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly and is also a council member of the Yellam Temple. He told the BBC that the number of active devadasi has plummeted.
“There may be 50 to 60 devadasi in my constituency now,” he said. “No one is encouraging initiation into devadasis in temples.”
“We have stopped the devadasi tradition with our drastic action,” he says.
According to the Karnataka state government’s latest survey in 2008, there are more than 46,000 devadasi in the state.
The next generation
Photo by Sakhi Trust
Money from sex work has helped Chandrika avoid devadasi adiction.
“I want it to stop. I will not make my daughter a devadasi. I don’t want to continue with this system,” she says.
ANC ita says she wants to get married and finally take off her pearl necklace.