‘Married To God, Abandoned By Men’: The Untold Story of Karnataka’s Devadasis
The recent protest by Devadasi women in Hosapete has once again exposed the dark persistence of a tradition the law has failed to erase.
By Anil Gejji
Published : December 8, 2025 at 3:57 PM IST
Hosapete: While growing up, they were told that they were ‘married to God.’ That the ‘sacred’ thread tied around their neck was nothing but a blessing few receive, that the ritual at midnight was a privilege. But the moment little girls became Devadasis, childhood slipped out of their hands and the world readily claimed their bodies. Behind the veneer of devotion lay a brutal truth - a years-old tradition that promised divinity but delivered lifelong exploitation.
For countless girls across northern Karnataka, the first lesson of life was that their fate belonged not to themselves, but to the men who invoked a goddess to justify what they desired.
The Protest: A Cry for Recognition, Justice
Hosapete, Vijayanagara district. A winter morning of December 4. Around 40 Devadasi women waited outside the office of the Assistant Commissioner, P Vivekananda, clutching petitions, papers that they thought could finally acknowledge their suffering, give their children a future, and pull them out of generations of sanctioned injustice.
These women, deprived of being recognised as survivors of Devadasi system, are in waiting for an 'official recognition' which will make them eligible for various benefits of the State Government under its Devadasi Rehabilitation Programme like a monthly pension, financial assistance for housing, skill development and starting small businesses, scholarships to their kids etc.
But the irony is their year of birth. In 1984, the Devadasi system, regressive as it is, was outlawed in Karnataka making their initiation as Devadasis illegal. For girls born after 1984, those indulging in the practice will be liable for punishment including a jail term. So the administration said it could not give them official recognition. Their very existence as Devadasis was illegal. “As per the guidelines, you will not get official recognition. Only the women born before 1984 are eligible,” Vivekananda told them.
And yet, here they were, as a proof that the ban had failed.
“Please do not punish us for something we never chose. We were children. Some of us were six. Seven. If the government cannot help us now, who will? I only want a better life for my children,” 32-year-old Renuka pleaded, her voice breaking in pain.
Caught in a cruel paradox, these women begged to be included in the ongoing survey. Without recognition, there is no pension, no housing benefit, no livelihood assistance, no scholarships for their children. Unrecognised, their pain will remain invisible.
In the past, they resisted door-to-door verification, afraid of the stigma. But desperation seems to have softened even fear. And now, one by one, they request, “Come to our homes. See the truth.”
A System Supposedly Dead, Yet Girls Are Being Dedicated in Secret
The Hosapete protest peeled off a disturbing truth - four decades after being outlawed, the Devadasi system is alive, hidden and surviving in silence.
Over 521 women, most born long after the ban, have applied to be recognised as Devadasis in Vijayanagara district alone. Bringing this fact to the fore is an NGO, Sakhi Trust, which has been working towards the rescue and rehabilitation of Devadasis in Vijayapura district for over two decades now.
Across Ballari, Bagalkot, Belagavi, Koppal, Haveri, Kalaburagi, Yadgir, and Chitradurga, girls are still secretly dedicated to Huligemma, Yellamma, Mailareshwara, Yamanavva, now not in temples but inside houses, in the shadows, at night. “We come to know only when a girl becomes pregnant or is abandoned,” says Manjuala Malage of Sakhi Trust.
The ritual remains hidden, but the consequences are loud resulting in poverty, abandonment, and a lifetime of stigma without fault.
“We have identified at least 70 cases in the last four years,” says Dr Bhagyalakshmi, founder of Sakhi Trust.
As per the last survey conducted in 2008, there were 46,661 Devadasis in Karnataka. “After the completion of the ongoing survey, the number is expected to go up by 6,000 to 7,000 with the district administrations across the state receiving hundreds of fresh applications,” says Yamanoorappa Halavagali, Convener, Vimukta Devadasi Mahila Mattu Makkala Vedike, suggesting the fight against the Devadasi system is still a long drawn one.
The Devadasi system
As per the unsaid rules, the Devadasi system involves dedicating young girls to deities in temples in an elaborate ritual akin to marriage and making them lose their virginity to an elderly man (in most cases, it is the girl’s relative or landlords of the village) in return for money and jewelry. In Koppal, Vijayanagar and Ballari districts, girls are dedicated to Goddess Huligemma, in Belagavi, Bagalkot, Dharwad to Goddess Savadatti Yallamma and in Haveri, Davanagere to Mailareshwara and in Kalaburagi and Yadgir to Goddess Yamanavva.
Once Devadasis, these women are barred from marriage and are supposed to take care of their families. Usually these women end up having multiple male partners, who have no obligation or responsibilities.
“Shockingly, after the ban came into force in 1984, girls are being pushed into becoming Devadasis secretly. They do the ritual (of marriage) during night hours to ensure nobody knows. Unlike in the past, the rituals are not taking place at temples but at houses and within communities. We come to know only when these girls get pregnant or deserted by their male partners,” says Manjuala.
Stories That Hurt to Hear, Because They Should Never Have Happened
Ankita was in Class 10 when her parents forced her into the Devadasi system. Her elder brother had died. Poverty took a toll on the entire household. The family decided that if she became a Devadasi, she would never marry, never leave them, always earn for them.
“I did not know what to do when my parents told me that I am being dedicated to Goddess Huligemma. I did not agree. They stopped eating for a month. I was 15. What could I do? I had to give in” she whispered.
Her cousin Shilpa was faced with the same dilemma. Both are first-generation Devadasis, proof that the practice continues far beyond family lineage.
Manjamma, a seventh-generation Devadasi, was dedicated when she was 10. Her children are now teenagers. She spends sleepless nights by just thinking that her daughter may be dragged into the same fate if she cannot secure financial stability and recognition.
But recognition is actually tied to a date on a law, not as per the depth of their suffering.
Manjamma, Bharati, Jalajamma, and Manjula, all in their 30s, also attribute their initiation to family pressure and poverty. With a son pursuing 2nd PU and a daughter in Class 6, Manjamma is struggling to meet their expenses with her meagre income. “I want to get registered so that I can get a good education for my children. I do not want my daughter to end up being a Devadasi,” Manjamma says.
After being pushed into the Devadasi system, many girls have become sex workers and those with physical disabilities are seen begging to earn a livelihood as their male partners deserted them. “Since men think they have no obligation or responsibility, a majority of them desert Devadasis once they become pregnant or develop health issues. This forces several Devadasi women into sex trade to run their families,” says Usha, another Devadasi, adding, “We bear everything alone.”
Yet, as Yamanoorappa, son of a Devadasi, says, not all turn to sex work. “Many work as agricultural labourers, cleaners, domestic workers. They fight for dignity every day,” he says.
Stories Where Girls Broke the Chain
Amid the grief, there are sparks of defiance that have made a difference.
Geetha was 15 when she was initiated into the system. She protested and chose education. She refused to 'serve' any man, and built a life on her own terms. Today, at 23, she works at Sakhi Trust as a media counsellor after doing a course in journalism. She dreams of studying development at Azim Premji University. “I knew what the system was. I did not have the courage as a child. But one day, I decided that come what may, I have to end this here,” she narrates.
There are many Geethas now, graduates, teachers, social workers - all daughters of Devadasis who refused to bow to a tradition that stole their mothers’ peace and also lives.
A New Law, and a New Hope
The 1983 law banned the practice but could not uproot it. A new, far stronger bill, drafted by NLSIU, is now awaiting Presidential assent.
For the first time, the law will:
- punish parents, priests, facilitators
- ensure children of Devadasis have the right to identify their fathers
- enforce DNA tests on suspected fathers
- increase pensions and rehabilitation packages
- provide a one-time livelihood asset worth up to Rs 10 lakh
“If men know they can be held accountable, this system will collapse,” says R.V. Chandrashekhar, Coordinator of Draft Committee and a faculty at NLSIU.
But activists insist that laws alone cannot end deeply ingrained social evils. Awareness, education, and unconditional rehabilitation of all Devadasi families are essential.
The bill seeks to punish not only the parents who coerce their girl children into becoming Devadasis but also the abetters and facilitators including priests. More importantly, it seeks to grant the right to the kids of Devadasis to identify their fathers.
“This is a pathbreaking law as it allows the suspected father of a Devadasi child to be subjected to DNA test. This is expected to act as a major deterrent for people who want to be in a relationship with Devadasi women. If men stop coming to Devadasis, this system will automatically see its end,” adds Chandrashekhar,.
The new law also focuses more on rehabilitation. “The pension amount has increased to Rs 5,000 and the one time assistance to take up skill and livelihood has also gone up to to Rs 10 lakh from the existing Rs 1 lakh. We have told the Government to provide this one time assistance in the form of an asset,” Chandrashekhar adds.
The new law is more comprehensive than the previous one and we welcome it. “But the law alone cannot curb such social evils. Sustained efforts towards creating awareness and educating Devadasi families will be of more help. We have a law to prevent atrocities against SC/STs and women. But still these groups face atrocities,” says Yamanoorappa.
He also insists that the Government must implement rehabilitation as a one-time package covering all Devadasi families. “Currently, they are sanctioning pensions and financial assistance to Devadasis as per the availability of funds. This will take a lot of time to cover all Devadasis. The Government must change its approach and provide all the help in one go and put an end to it,” he adds.
Bhagyalakshmi concurs with Yamanoorappa. “Not all Devadasis are getting the benefits the Government has already announced. There are many Devadasi women aged above 60 who are not getting pension till date. Several women have also not got financial assistance and this explains why the system continues,” she says. It is time the Government ensured that no Devadasi family is left out in the ongoing survey and no new people come into the system further, she asserts.
The Cruel Truth: Devotion Was Never the Problem, Men Were
At its heart, the Devadasi system was never about the deity. It was about people who used the deity as a shield for exploitation. It was about poverty weaponised. Even today, in hushed rooms at midnight, the ritual continues, and every time a girl is dedicated, it reiterates that humanity loses.
The Devadasi women gathered in Hosapete were not just seeking pensions or benefits. They wanted acknowledgement of an injustice done to them generation after generation in the name of faith, under the guise of culture, and at the altar of patriarchy.
Also Read:
