THE DEVADASI SYSTEM THRIVES UNI. - TIMES OF INDIA - 10th Nov 1987: confirms that the practice of dedication young Harijan (Hindu) girls (Mahars, Mangs, Dowris and Chambhar) at childhood to a goddess, and their initiation into prostitution when they attain puberty continues to thrive in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and other parts of South India. This is largely due to social backwardness, poverty and illiteracy, according to a study by two doctors of the India Health Organization.
The report clearly indicates that the Devadasi system was the result of a conspiracy between the feudal class and the priests (Brahmins) who with their ideological and religious hold over the peasants and craftsmen, devised a practice which acquired religious sanctions. They noted in their study on - "Devadasis" - "the link between religious culture and child prostitution".
The study revealed that girls from poor Hindu families were sold after puberty at private auctions to a master who initially paid a sum of money to the families ranging from 500 to Rs. 5,000.
The study, made during health camps organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Devadasi populated areas, revealed that the dedicated girls formed 15 percent of the total women involved in prostitution in the country, and as much as 70 percent of the prostitutes in the border districts of Karnataka and Maharashtra
