What would you call women in flesh trade, A Prostitute or A Devdasi? Do you still believe in Devdasi (sanctified prostitutes) system, where a women is devoted to a god or goddess from her early childhood and later forced into a prostitution business…….all in the name of God. I do agree, in a country like India where majority people live under the poverty line are at some point of life forced to take up prostitution as a living. But what if a girl child at a very young age is made a Devdasi, so that later on very conveniently she could be turned into a prostitute.

When girls dedicated to Yellama reach puberty they are forced to sacrifice their virginity to an older man. What follows is a life of sexual slavery, they become sanctified prostitutes.

The practice of dedicating young girls as devadasis has been outlawed for over 50 years, but still it happens. Anti-slavery campaigners estimate that there are at least 25,000 devadasis in the state of Karnataka alone.

Well, believe it or not, this Devdasi system is still a very strong religion in some villages of southern India or you can call it an employment.

In a village in Saundatti – Karnataka, The women are all devadasis, literally slaves of the goddess. As children their parents gave them to serve Yellama – the goddess of fertility. Her cult is thousands of years old and her followers spread across southern India.

Being devadasis means slaves of the goddess. Devdasis have to visit Yellama temple, wear necklaces of pearls to show they are bound to Yellama. They give blessings and perform rituals. The money devadasis earn goes straight to their parents who often act as pimps for their daughters. Once girls are dedicated the course of their lives is decided. They can never marry, never have a family life.

Shoba, who is just 20 and has been a devadasi prostitute for seven years, showed her brothel, a single room she shares with her parents. She comes from a long line of devadasis. Her grandmother was one, her sister is too. Shoba remembers how, when she was 13 her parents dressed her as if for marriage. They auctioned her virginity to the highest bidder.

“My parents didn’t have any sons, so there was nobody to earn the family a living,” says Imla, another devdasi. “Instead they turned me into a prostitute. I don’t even remember when I started because I was so young. My parents thought at least they’d get some money from me.”

The goddess of fertility is seen as a powerful force. Many believe that giving girls to Yellama will bring good fortune on a family.