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Female Erotic Men and Male Ascetic Women: Goddess Yellamma and Her Agents / Victims

Received: 18 July 2021     Accepted: 28 September 2021     Published: 31 December 2021
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Abstract

This article is a study of the cult of the Goddess Yellamma and women/men/eunuchs called devadasis who derive a sense of agency through their worship of the mother Goddess. I have conducted a participant observation of the devadasis in and around Kolhapur; this work is an indepth study of their lives and their struggles. The word devadasi, as defined by the Encarta dictionary means a Hindu temple dancer, a member of a hereditary class of women dancers in a Hindu temple. In Kolhapur today, it is a very well known fact that a majority of these devadasis are Dalit women. Sheer poverty and destitution force them to accept this lifestyle, which inevitably culminates in the oldest profession of the world – prostitution. Society and culture has worked hand in hand to ensure that these devadasis are degraded to a dreaded existence and gradually they succumb to the dictates of religion and patriarchy. Rather for a devadasi, existence as a woman is secondary to her existence as a devadasi. She is first a devadasi, only then is she a woman. This is the manner in which, her denigration is complete. My interviews at Saundatti and Kolhapur (with its temple complexes) have revealed interesting conclusions about the system of dedication. The devadasi system is one that is still persisting, despite all kinds of prohibitions on the practice. It is an evil nexus of priests, administration and the local people. Inspite of all this exploitation in various aspects of their lives, they are not losing hope. Devadasis are agents of the Goddess -this gives them a social prestige. The agency of women in “religious prostitution” can be articulated - the fact that the Goddess to whom they are dedicated blesses them and communicates her wishes through them has endowed them with a huge sense of authority in their everyday lives. Human agency being that inherent capacity in each person to think, make choices and act, within and based on the socio-economic, political and cultural forces around them, in order to improve themselves and their families and communities; the devadasis are showing a great deal of agency in making visible efforts to improve their lives. In Kolhapur today, they are realising that their children shouldn’t be subjected to this degradation anymore and while possible, trying to make choices, acting within and trying to mould the socio-economic, political and cultural forces around them.

Published in Advances in Sciences and Humanities (Volume 7, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ash.20210704.15
Page(s) 143-151
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Religious Prostitution, Devadasis, Goddess Yellamma, Agency, Kolhapur, Exploitation

References
[1] Anagha Tambe (2009) Reading Devadasi Practice through Popular Marathi Literature in Economic and Political Weekly, April25, 2009, Vol. XLIV No. 17, p. 92.
[2] Anagha Tambe “Different Issues/Different Voices – Organization of women in prostitution in India” in Rohini Sahni, V. Kalyan Shankar and Hemant Apte (2008) (ed) Prostitution and Beyond – An Analysis of Sex Work in India New Delh: Sage p. 73.
[3] Lakshmi Vishwanathan (2008) Women of Pride – The Devadasi Heritage New Delhi: Lotus Collection, p. 1.
[4] In order to find out the entire gamut of words that are used to refer to prostitute, please see Hemant Apte and Rohni Sahni, “What does a language have to say? Words for Prostitution in Marathi vocabulary” in Rohini Sahni, V. Kalyan Shankar and Hemant Apte op. cit, pp. 302-311.
[5] Anupama Rao (2010) The Caste Question – Dalits and the politics of Modern India New Delhi: Permanent Black/Orient Blackswan, pp. 61-63.
[6] For a detailed history of the Goddess Renuka Yellamma see William Dalyrymple “The daughters of Yellamma” in Aids Sutra Untold Stories from India (2008) Random House India pp. 221–222.
[7] K. C. Tarachand (1991) Devdasi Custom: Rural Social Structure and Flesh Markets New Delhi Reliance Publishing House p. 69 DELETE THIS REFERENCE.
[8] William Dalyrymple “The daughters of Yellamma” in Aids Sutra Untold Stories from India (2008) Random House India p. 223.
[9] See William Dalyrymple “The daughters of Yellamma” in (2008) Aids Sutra Untold Stories from India Random House India, pp. 240-241.
[10] Anagha Tambe (2009) Reading Devadasi Practice through Popular Marathi Literature in Economic and Political Weekly, April25, 2009, Vol. XLIV No. 17, p. 88
[11] Vakulabharanam Lalitha (2011) Women, Religion and Tradition – The Cult of Jogins, Matangis and Basvis Bhopla, Rawat Publications, pp. 176.
[12] Anagha Tambe (2009) Reading Devadasi Practice through Popular Marathi Literature in Economic and Political Weekly, April25, 2009, Vol. XLIV No. 17, pp. 90-91.
[13] Karin Kapadia, “Dancing the Goddess – Posession and Caste” in Subhadra Mitra Channa and Joan P. Mencher (ed) (2013) Life as a Dalit Views from the Bottom on Caste in India New Delhi Sage, p. 194.
[14] Jenett Diane A Million Shaktis Rising: Pongala, a Women’s Festival in Kerala, India in Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Volume 21, Number 1, Spring 2005, pp. 43.
[15] Vakulabharanam Lalitha (2011) Women, Religion and Tradition – The Cult of Jogins, Matangis and Basvis Bhopla, Rawat Publications, pp. 34-35 and p. 23.
[16] K. C. Tarachand (1991) Devdasi Custom: Rural Social Structure and Flesh Markets New Delhi Reliance Publishing House p. 86.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Sushmita Gonsalves. (2021). Female Erotic Men and Male Ascetic Women: Goddess Yellamma and Her Agents / Victims. Advances in Sciences and Humanities, 7(4), 143-151. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ash.20210704.15

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    ACS Style

    Sushmita Gonsalves. Female Erotic Men and Male Ascetic Women: Goddess Yellamma and Her Agents / Victims. Adv. Sci. Humanit. 2021, 7(4), 143-151. doi: 10.11648/j.ash.20210704.15

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    AMA Style

    Sushmita Gonsalves. Female Erotic Men and Male Ascetic Women: Goddess Yellamma and Her Agents / Victims. Adv Sci Humanit. 2021;7(4):143-151. doi: 10.11648/j.ash.20210704.15

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      author = {Sushmita Gonsalves},
      title = {Female Erotic Men and Male Ascetic Women: Goddess Yellamma and Her Agents / Victims},
      journal = {Advances in Sciences and Humanities},
      volume = {7},
      number = {4},
      pages = {143-151},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ash.20210704.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ash.20210704.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ash.20210704.15},
      abstract = {This article is a study of the cult of the Goddess Yellamma and women/men/eunuchs called devadasis who derive a sense of agency through their worship of the mother Goddess. I have conducted a participant observation of the devadasis in and around Kolhapur; this work is an indepth study of their lives and their struggles. The word devadasi, as defined by the Encarta dictionary means a Hindu temple dancer, a member of a hereditary class of women dancers in a Hindu temple. In Kolhapur today, it is a very well known fact that a majority of these devadasis are Dalit women. Sheer poverty and destitution force them to accept this lifestyle, which inevitably culminates in the oldest profession of the world – prostitution. Society and culture has worked hand in hand to ensure that these devadasis are degraded to a dreaded existence and gradually they succumb to the dictates of religion and patriarchy. Rather for a devadasi, existence as a woman is secondary to her existence as a devadasi. She is first a devadasi, only then is she a woman. This is the manner in which, her denigration is complete. My interviews at Saundatti and Kolhapur (with its temple complexes) have revealed interesting conclusions about the system of dedication. The devadasi system is one that is still persisting, despite all kinds of prohibitions on the practice. It is an evil nexus of priests, administration and the local people. Inspite of all this exploitation in various aspects of their lives, they are not losing hope. Devadasis are agents of the Goddess -this gives them a social prestige. The agency of women in “religious prostitution” can be articulated - the fact that the Goddess to whom they are dedicated blesses them and communicates her wishes through them has endowed them with a huge sense of authority in their everyday lives. Human agency being that inherent capacity in each person to think, make choices and act, within and based on the socio-economic, political and cultural forces around them, in order to improve themselves and their families and communities; the devadasis are showing a great deal of agency in making visible efforts to improve their lives. In Kolhapur today, they are realising that their children shouldn’t be subjected to this degradation anymore and while possible, trying to make choices, acting within and trying to mould the socio-economic, political and cultural forces around them.},
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Author Information
  • Scottish Church College, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India

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