This devadasi is an ancient practice of Hinduism. In some areas of India, especially in South India, women were caught in the morass of prostitution in the name of religion and faith. Due to social family pressure, these women were forced to become part of this religious practice. Under the Devadasi system, upper-caste women dedicated themselves to the temple and served the deity. Dances were performed in temples to please the deity. The temple priests started making physical connections with the women involved in this practice, saying that this establishes contact between them and God. Gradually it became his right, which also got social acceptance. After that, the kings used to keep devadasis in their palaces started trending. In the Mughal period, while the kings felt that such a large number of devadasis were not under their control, the devadasis became public property. This practice is still continuing in 10 districts of Karnataka and 14 districts of Andhra Pradesh. Many NGOs have registered their opposition to the Devadasi system.
In the general social concept, Devadasi refers to women who are married in a temple or any other religious establishment. Their job is to take care of temples and learn dance and music. At first, they had a high status in society, later the situation became worse. Devadasis are traditionally brahmacharis, but now they also have the right to have sexual intercourse with men. This is an unfair and wrong social practice. Its practice was predominant in South India. The twentieth century saw some change in the condition of the Devadasis. When the British and Muslim rulers tried to abolish the devadasi system, the Hindus considered it as an attack on their religion and strengthened it further.
No comments:
Post a Comment