Young girls who are given to the gods and suffer sexual exploitation.

"Sex work has affected me deeply. My body is very weak and I am mentally destroyed." Chandrika's* life as a sex worker began with a religious ceremony.

At age 15, she was taken to a temple and symbolically married to a goddess.

"At the time, I didn't understand the meaning of the ritual," she tells the BBC. Chandrika is now almost 40 years old and has worked as a prostitute for almost 20 years.

From divine bride to prostitute

The state of Karnataka, in southern India, is conducting a study to identify people like Chandrika, who became sex workers after being initiated into the devadasis tradition.

The devadasi tradition, or "God's slave women," originated in southern India over a thousand years ago. Initially, they worked as temple performers, excelling in singing and dancing. Over time, the devadasi system came to resemble a form of legalized prostitution.

Although bans began during the colonial period in many parts of India, Karnataka only outlawed the practice in 1982. However, it continues to exist to this day.

Devadasis living in villages may have an intimate partner and also cater to clients. Many migrate to cities like Mumbai to work in brothels.

After her consecration ceremony in the city of Belgaum, Chandrika returned home and lived normally for four years. Then, a relative took her to the industrial city of Sangli, promising her a job as a maid. But she left her in a brothel.

"The first few months were very difficult. I felt bad. I couldn't eat or sleep properly," Chandrika recalls. "I thought about running away, but gradually I ended up accepting it."

Chandrika was only 19 years old, had little schooling, and barely understood Hindi or Marathi, the languages ​​spoken in Sangli.

"Some [customers] physically assaulted me, others insulted me. It was very difficult to endure," he continues.

Among the brothel's clients were university students, drivers, lawyers, and manual laborers.

Chandrika met her partner, a truck driver, through sex work in Sangli.

Together they had a daughter and a son. Her partner took care of the children while Chandrika continued working at the brothel, where she attended to between 10 and 15 clients a day.

A few years after the birth of her second child, her partner died in a traffic accident, and she returned to Belgaum — from where she spoke to the BBC through an interpreter.

'Men don't come to us to get married'

Not all devadasis work in brothels, and some don't even engage in sex work.

Ankita and Shilpa, both 23 years old, are cousins ​​and live in a village in northern Karnataka. Like Chandrika, they belong to the Dalit caste, a group that suffers strong discrimination in India.

Shilpa dropped out of her studies after only one year, and her consecration took place in 2022. Ankita studied until she was about 15 years old, and her parents organized the ceremony in 2023. After her brother's death, she was pressured to become a devadasi .

"My parents said they wanted to consecrate me to the goddesses. I refused. After a week, they stopped giving me food," says Ankita.

"I felt terrible, but I accepted for the sake of my family. I dressed as a bride and married the goddess."

Ankita holds a necklace of white pearls and red beads, which symbolizes this union. Neither her mother nor her grandmother were devadasis . The family owns a small plot of land, but it is not enough to feed them.

"There is a fear that if no one is initiated, the goddess will curse us," she explains.

Devadasis cannot marry, but they can have intimate partners who are legally married to another woman.

Ankita rejected all advances from men and still works as a day laborer in the fields, earning about 4 dollars (about R$ 21 per day).

Shilpa's life took an unexpected turn. After her initiation, she began a relationship with a migrant worker.

"He approached me because he knew I was a devadasi ," she recalls.

Like many devadasis women, Shilpa lived with her partner in her own home.

"He was only with me for a few months and left me pregnant. During that time, he gave me 3,000 rupees (about R$187). He didn't react to my pregnancy and, one day, he simply disappeared."

Shilpa was three months pregnant and felt confused.

"I tried calling him, but the phone was out of service. I don't even know where he's originally from."

She didn't go to the police to report him. "In our culture, men don't come to us to get married," she explains.

Poverty and exploitation

M. Bhagyalakshmi is the director of the local NGO Sakhi Trust and has worked with devadasis women for over two decades. She states that initiations continue to take place despite the ban.

"Every year we manage to prevent three or four girls from being consecrated as devadasis . But most of the ceremonies happen in secret. We only find out when a young woman becomes pregnant or has a baby," she says.

Bhagyalakshmi explains that many women lack basic services, have inadequate nutrition, little access to education, and are too afraid to ask for help.

"We surveyed 10,000 devadasis in the Vijayanagara district. I saw many disabled women, blind women, and other vulnerable women being forced into this system. Almost 70% were homeless," she told the BBC.

Intimate partners often refuse to use condoms, resulting in unwanted pregnancies or HIV transmission.

Bhagyalakshmi estimates that around 95% of devadasis belong to the Dalit caste, and the rest to tribal communities.

Unlike in the past, modern devadasis do not receive any kind of support or income from the temples.

"The devadasi system is pure exploitation," she states emphatically.

Stop the practice.

Both current and ancient devadasis gather at the Saundatti Yellamma temple in Belgaum for an annual festival, but authorities say no initiations take place there.

"Today it is a punishable crime. During the festivals, we put up posters and leaflets to warn people that strict measures will be taken," says Vishwas Vasant Vaidya.

Vaidya is a member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly and also sits on the board of directors of the Yellamma temple. In an interview with the BBC, he stated that the number of active devadasis has decreased drastically.

"Today there may be between 50 and 60 devadasis here in my district," he remarks. "No one promotes devadasi initiation in the temple."

"We eradicated the devadasi tradition thanks to our firm actions," he assures.

The most recent census conducted by the Karnataka government in 2008 identified over 46,000 devadasis in the state.

'I want this to end'

The money Chandrika earned from sex work helped her escape poverty. To protect her children from stigma, she sent them to boarding schools.

"I've always worried about my daughter," says Chandrika.

"When she was about 16 years old, I married her off to a relative so she wouldn't have to become a slut like me. Today, she lives with her husband."

Chandrika currently works with an NGO and gets tested for HIV regularly.

"I'm getting old; in a few years I won't be able to do sex work anymore," she says. That's why she plans to open a fruit shop.

Shilpa wants to provide a good education for her daughter. She is outraged by the devadasi tradition.

"I want this to end. I'm not going to turn my daughter into a slut. I don't want to perpetuate this system," she declares.

Ankita says she wants to get married and finally get rid of the pearl necklace.

*Chandrika's name has been changed to protect her identity.