A female devotee (devadasi) of Hindu goddess Yellamma, with a depiction of Yellamma and a basket to solicit donations; Chowpatty Beach, Mumbai, India
The cult around goddess Yellamma is controversial, as poor families often devote their daughters to Yellamma, the girls becoming devadasis, 'slaves of the goddess'. The custom is illegal and the rites are conducted secretly. Through noxious networks of corrupt priests and pimps, many, if not most of the girls end up as prostitutes. In later life they need to resort to begging. The centre of the Yellamma cult is the Yellamma Temple in Saundatti, Karnataka, South India. The rites to devote girls to Yellamma are usually held during Magh Mela, a full moon festival in January/February.
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Photo credit: © Rainer Krack / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
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Keywords: beach, begging, bias, chowpatty, cult, devadasi, gender, goddess, hindu, hinduism, india, indian, karnataka, mumbai, obscure, prostitution, religious, saundatti, south, women, yellamma
