Devadasi and Violence in Sisir Das’ <i>A Bride for Jagannatha</i> and Maya Goray’s <i>Devadasi</i>

Abstract

Devadasi, a socio-cultural-religious system in India, involved ritualistic dedication of young girls to temples. Violent, exploitative, and subjugating, it was a tool of gender discrimination. Though this patriarchal tradition bestowed upon devadasi woman a notional status of a deity, in reality, it ended up objectifying them. Devadasi thus evolved as a double-edged oppressive, a culturally sanctioned power and economic practice. The present paper attempts to explore various nuances of direct and structural violence ranging from physical violence, sexual assault, psychological trauma, societal stigmatisation to political ostracisation through a critical reading of Sisir Das’ A Bride for Jagannatha and Maya Goray’s Devadasi. Since the system was fundamentally established on religious principles, devadasi women find it challenging to seek legal interventions against institutionalised assault and oppression. The present paper investigates how the system, overtime, impacts the physical and psychological realities, and the onerous difficulties that they encounter in their attempts to break free from this oppressive and dehumanising cycle.