Devadasi system in India

Southern India's devadasi system, which 'dedicates' girls to a life of sex work in the name of religion, continues despite being made illegal in 1988 In South India, a devadasi (Sanskrit: servant of deva (god) or devi (goddess)) is a girl "dedicated" to worship and service of a deity or a temple for the rest of her life. The age group of a girl to be converted as jogini is 8–16 years. The dedication takes place in a Pottukattu ceremony which is similar in some ways to marriage. Originally, in addition to taking care of the temple and performing rituals, these women learned and practiced Sadir (Bharatanatya), Odissi and other classical Indian artistic traditions and enjoyed a high social status as dance and music were essential part of temple worship. Girls from poor families of the "untouchable", or lower, caste are "married" to Yellamma as young as four. No longer allowed to marry a mortal, they are expected to bestow their entire lives to the service of the goddess. (Special thanks to Video Volunteer) Creative commons license - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/