The Lesser Daughters of the Goddess

The Dravidian movement waged an ideological war against the devadasi system. As former devadasis lead a new wave of resistance, the practice is quietly sustained by caste, poverty, superstition and inherited ritual

- Fozia Yasin

ON a humid afternoon, Dr Sitavva Jodatti stands in front of a group of young boys and girls gathered in a courtyard.

They sit cross-legged on mats, notebooks open. She speaks with the practised clarity of someone who has retold her story again and again. “I was seven,” she begins. “In Class 1. They dressed me in new clothes and green bangles. Everyone gave me sweets.”

The girls listen, some wide-eyed since they know the outlines of the ritual. They have seen the posters warning their parents not to do it. But hearing it from a woman who lived it feels different.