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The Yellamma temple at Saundatti often remains crowded with women decked in yellow saree. These are not just any devotees of the Goddess, but her social servants. They have dedicated their lives in the name of the Goddess and usually spend their time singing and dancing on the temple premises during the day and succumb to prostitution at night.
Servant of Goddess
The village of Saundatti has a unique celebration. Each year, young girls are led to a procession to dedicate their whole life in the name of the Goddess Yellamma. The villagers believe that stagnation in this ritual will bring a curse upon the village. So even after the Government of India has banned this ceremony, the villagers continue it in the name of devotion and culture.
The process of being a devadasi requires one to go through a dedication ceremony. Usually, the girls are dedicated at a very young age, before they reach puberty. Many join the ceremony, excitedly, because they are offered sweets to stuff themselves up with and new sarees to wear (for the first time).
Three days before the Ratha Yatra (chariot journey) at the Yellamma temple, the young girls are locked inside a house with a hefty amount of sweets. This festival marks the resurrection of Yellamma’s husband in which Yellamma attains her marital status.
On the third day, they are bathed in neem water after an application of turmeric paste all over their body. Then, they lead a procession to the temple carrying a brass pot filled with water and decorated with flowers. The procession lasts for three days and stops at a bathing ghat (river bank) near the Saundatti temple.
These girls come from poor families. Sometimes, in a family of four or five, the father gives away his eldest daughter to satisfy the Goddess for a better future of the family. In other times, if someone in the family falls sick, they bargain with the Goddess for good health in return for a devadasi from the family.
The girls are asked to wear a dress made of neem branches and resume their journey into the temple. During this time, they lead a procession of thousands of people as many devotees visit the temple that day to witness the dedication process. This day is called the “Randi Purnima” or the “Prostitute Full Moon”.
They encircle the temple thrice before entering it where the priests perform certain rituals. These girls are then taught the basic norms of devadasi life. The ritual ends when the priest ties a string of red and white beads around their neck. After that day, the pots are to be worshipped as the Goddess Yellamma.
One may easily think that the basic norm of a devadasi's life is just to worship the God/Goddess. But no, it includes more than that! The primary duty that she needs to adhere to, is that she can never be the wife of any man. She needs to go begging in the houses of the upper caste people of the village, never ask for food and never tell anyone even if she is hungry. Also, provide shelter to everyone and if beaten up, never retaliate.
The tying of the beaded necklace before the Goddess takes place when the girl is between six to thirteen years of age. But the night of the virgin girl, when she is deflowered, takes place just after her first menstruation. Therefore, the age varies in this matter. Many people believed that deflowering a devadasi could purify or cure him of his diseases.
From their time of being dedicated till the time she has a fit body to engage in usual activities, a devadasi learns almost all the 64 skills of being a perfect woman. Among those, the knowledge of music and dance has been both a boon and bane to them. This cult has given birth to classical music and dance forms, and in another way, this knowledge has also laid down the path of getting them into the vicious trap of prostitution.
At present, the state of Karnataka has the largest number of devadasis in the country. Though the government has banned it, the cult of Goddess Yellamma and the beliefs of the local people has kept the tradition alive.
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