Thought for Food

Serving the Goddess: The dangerous life of a sacred sex worker

In the past, the devadasi, Indian prostitutes who are dedicated at an early age to the goddess Yellamma, lived lives of relative priviledge. They were literate.  They were the subject of poems that celebrated both the longing to be near the divine and the earthy joys of sex:

Three crores to bring
your mouth close to mine,
touch my lips and kiss.
To hug me tight,
to touch my place of love,
and get to total union,
listen well,
you must bathe me
in a shower of gold.

But only if you have the money

Today, they are plagued with AIDS.  Although they claim to still hold a sacred position in society, they are disrespected, occasionally abused, and illiterate. William Dalrymple writes:

I asked her whether her auspicious status made any difference to her clients when they came to be entertained.

“No,” she said. “There is no devotional feeling in bed. Fucking is fucking. There I am just another woman. Just another whore.”