The term devadasi originally described a Hindu religious practice in which girls were "married" and dedicated to a deity (deva or devi). In addition to taking care of the temple, and performing rituals they learned and practiced Bharatanatyam and other classical Indian arts traditions, and enjoyed a high social status. Following the demise of the great Hindu kingdoms the practice degenerated. Pressure from the colonial "reform" movement led to suppression of the practice. Adherents of this movement considered devadasis immoral since they engaged in sex outside of the traditional concept of marriage, and described them as prostitutes. As a result of these social changes, devadasis were left without their traditional means of support and patronage. Colonial views on devadasis are hotly disputed by several groups and organizations in India and by western academics.The high regard with which they were previously held has deteriorated in recent years due to their association with prostitution, and the practice has started to disappearIn modern India the tradition has become associated with commercial sexual exploitation, as described in a 2004 report by the National Human Rights Commission of the Government of India.[According to this report, "after initiation as devadasis, women migrate either to nearby towns or other far-off cities to practise prostitution" (p200). A study from 1990 recorded that 45.9% of devadasis in one particular district were prostitutes, while most of the others relied on manual labour and agriculture for their income.The practice of dedicating devadasis was declared illegal by the government of the Indian state Karnataka in 1982 Devadasis are also known by various other local terms. They are sometimes referred to as a caste; however, some question the accuracy of this usage. "According to the devadasis themselves there exists a devadasi 'way of life' or 'professional ethic' (vritti, murai) but not a devadasi jāti (sub-caste). Later, the office of devadasi became hereditary but it did not confer the right to work without adequate qualification" (Amrit Srinivasan, 1985). In Europe the term Bayadere (from French: bayadère, ascending to Portuguese: Balliadera, literally dancer) was occasionally used and by the government of Andhra Pradesh in 1988. However as of 2006 the practice was still prevalent in around 10 districts of northern Karnataka and 14 districts
in Andhra Pradesh.

Devadasi is a religious practice in parts of southern India, including Andhra Pradesh, whereby parents marry a daughter to a deity or a temple.The marriage usually occurs before the girl reaches puberty and requires the girl to become a prostitute for upper-caste community members. Such girls are known as jogini. They are forbidden to enter into a real marriage.

Joginis are recognised by their copper bangles, the band they wear round their necks with a leather pendant and a long necklace with several pendants which have the image of Goddess Yellamma.

The practice was legal in India until1988, yet it still continues as is evidenced by the testimony of a 35-year-old former jogini named Ashama. She ran away from her village and returned to lead the fight to abolish the illegal practice. The local police do not enforce the law and the villagers themselves make no effort to abolish the heinous practice.

Since the day of the initiation, I have not lived with dignity. I became available for all the men who inhabited Karni. They would ask me for sexual favours and I, as a jogini, was expected to please them. My trauma began even when I had not attained puberty.*

Ashama was seven when her parents married her to the local god. She was recently awarded the Neerja Bhanot award for courage.

The practice of religious prostitution is known as basivi in Karnataka and matangi in Maharastra. It is also known as venkatasani, nailis, muralis and theradiya

Answered by Rajani , an ibibo Citizen, at 9:22 AM on October 04, 2008

Deva dasi system was abolished in the fifties if I remember right. IT was sanctioned by ancient India, that there could be a particular community of women who would make themselves available for the pleasure of men. The lived on their money like wives but they were not wives. The children of these men who were born to dasis became dasis again for the next generation. Rich men would spend time for pleasure with these
women but would not marry them. It was only the wives of these men who enjoyed the property and only the children from these wives who inherited property.Dasis got no status in society. They were despised. But men couldn’t do without them. So they existed like some kind of legalized prostitution. The difference between a dasi and a wife is that, a dasi would desert a guy who had no money while a wife would never desert a man whatever happens.
After Independence, it was looked down upon and the entire system was abolished.But that has made things more difficult for women. Still women ofthese kind exist. And they have one night stint with different men and suffer from disease.Atleast dasis never courted different men.It was only one man at a time. And if their lover lived on for many years, they managed to live under his love and money till oldage and then remained single after his death. Only if he died too early or became too poor in between, did they drift towards another male.Today, they go by the name prostitutes and they don’t play by the basic rules of the dasis either.

Answered by Vida Writer , an ibibo Master, at 9:20 PM on September 20, 2008