On 24 Nov 2004, at 6:29 am, Ritu wrote:
If one takes a look at the accounts of the dev-dasis, even from the
region around the Khajurao temple, it is rare to come across women who
didn't aim to get out of the business, and who wanted their own
daughters to follow into the trade. And this is when the dev-dasi
structure used to be rather well-organised in terms of patrons, economic
security, and the provision of companionship.
http://skepdic.com/devadasi.html
"Devadasi is a religious practice in parts of southern India, including Andhra Pradesh, whereby parents marry a daughter to a deity or a temple.The marriage usually occurs before the girl reaches puberty and requires the girl to become a prostitute for upper-caste community members. Such girls are known as jogini. They are forbidden to enter into a real marriage."
"Ashama was seven when her parents married her to the local god. She was recently awarded the Neerja Bhanot award for courage.
The practice of religious prostitution is known as basivi in Karnataka and matangi in Maharastra. It is also known as venkatasani, nailis, muralis and theradiyan.
It has been the Atheist Centre of Vijayawada, India, that has been most instrumental in the movement to eradicate this pernicious religious custom."
-- William T Goodall Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/
"Our products just aren't engineered for security." - Brian Valentine, senior vice president in charge of Microsoft's Windows development team.
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