Prostitutes of God (Documentary)
11,490,789
Published 2012-08-21
Some parents in India practice the Devadasi tradition, selling their daughters into a life of prostitution, often around the age of 10.
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We traveled to the Indian city of Sangli to meet a group of bolshy sex workers selling their bodies in the name of the Hindu Goddess Yellamma. Local sex worker Anitha invites us for lunch in her brothel; shows us her homemade "sex rooms," and tells us what it's like to be a religious prostitute in modern India.
Afterwards we cross the border into Karnataka into the heartlands of the ancient Devadasi tradition to uncover the mystery of the Goddess Yellamma, and find out how a religious icon became a justification for child prostitution. We meet two teenage Devadasis, Mala and Belavva, to talk sex, saris, and how they cope with the deadly threat of HIV.
A dancing transvestite Devadasi steals the limelight in the next phase of our journey, as we travel deeper into the murky world of temple prostitution. He invites us for chai, gives our host a manicure, and teaches us a few tricks of the trade. We explore the home of the most celebrated Devadasi brothel madam in the business to find out how she lures the next generation of girls into the sex trade.
For the grand finale we went to the annual full moon festival in Saundatti, the most prestigious event in the Devadasi calendar. The colour, dancing and celebrations of the festival disguise the darkness of its underlying purpose: child sex trafficking. Here traffickers, pimps and brothel madams come from all over India to recruit young girls and boys into the sex trade in the name of the Goddess Yellamma. On our way home, we are invited to a remote mud hut to meet two older Devadasi women a mother and daughter who reflect back on their lives and ask the question: what kind of religion turns parents into pimps and their children into prostitutes?
1:32 The History of Devadasi Culture
2:30 Brothel in Sangli
6:26 The Story of the Goddess Yellamma
7:31 Devadasis in Karnataka
13:00 Life as a Gay Devadasi
18:00 The Next Generation of Devadasi Women
20:15 Full Moon Festival
23:00 Mock Dedication Ceremony
24:00 Three Generations of Devadasi Women
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All Comments (21)
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I love how the interpreter said "Everybody is in France" with pure confidence.
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“We may feel sad, we may become illiterates. But at least the family can have two meals per day.” My heart just shattered. NO young, underage girl should ever have to live that way💔
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The last interview with the Devadasi grandmother and mother with a deceased daughter due to HIV was particularly heartbreaking to me. The older they got, the more disillusioned they became to the injustices of their social strata. Earlier in the doc, the young Devadasi girl copes with societal disgust by perceiving herself as a god who provides for her family. The goddess Yellamma is essentially a scapegoating for men to do as they will, and a coping mechanism for women to accept their fate under the guise of religion and duty.
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The way the store owner treated those women really bothered me; these women are so strong, most of them do not have a choice but to do this. One woman said her reason was so that her family could have food to eat. It’s beyond heart breaking, I just wish things could be better for them.
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I will never understand how prostitutes can be derided as filthy, but the men who pay for their services are somehow cleaner. A blatant injustice.
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its one of those day on youtube...i think we all end up on these types of videos lol i just watched a Liberia cannibal video before this.
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I appreciate the man. He wants his daughter to go to school. These are inspiring people. Nothing I expected when I clicked this video.
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“Atleast our families can eat 2 meals a day”. Wow. That actually hit me where it hurts. People are scraping what specks of dust they have together just to pay for 2 meals
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The way grandmom wiped her tears as if it was nothing, just speaks volumes of how tough, life has forced her to be. I hope and wish that she and her family are doing better now.
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That part where he talks about adopting a girl and giving her a better life really got me.
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The weird thing about the caste system is that Western educated Indians still buy into it- I went to medical school at Dartmouth and one of my fellow classmates was from the Brahmin caste (and she was born and raised in the US) and she looked down on another female classmate who was a Muslim Indian (an "untouchable"). Legit took place in New Hampshire in 2006 with all American or Canadian people of Indian descent. If they buy into it, what hope is there for these devadasi?
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These documentaries show me truly how blessed I am😢
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I didn't know that dude has friends in France
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i love how the two gay men r the nicest ones. the one wanting to have a daughter to give her a good life is so pure. this world is just fucked.
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Pandu is so brave am so happy that you covered someone so strong like him. The mind broundaries that we have he freed himself from them and believes he can live the way he wants and that's the only thing I believe you need to live a life happily.
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Makes you truly understand that life truly is just a genetic lottery and so many of are just lucky while others aren’t. This could’ve been any of us so we should never judge but instead empathise and try to end these kinds of practices because we have the position and resources to do so. Thank you for this documentary 👏🏽
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The male sex worker in the saree, who adopted a girl and wanted to have a family is the sweetest human.
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This indian dude knew about 10 words of english and thought hed be ok for a translator job...
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this is what we call real content
