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Fig.4:1 The marriage ceremony of a young girl dedicated to the Goddess Yallamma.
According to some of the puranas, the presence of a prostitute was essential on
certain sacred occasions. From the Vedic period prostitutes have always been an
important part of Indian society. During the Deepavali (lighting of lamps) festival, a
prostitute used to go from house to house uttering auspicious words, heralding the
advent of the Goddess Laxmi 45 . Again, a prostitute had to be present at the ritual
of tying the sacred protective cord (raksha-bandhan) in the case of a king, whose
waist also used to be purified with clay from the threshold of a prostitute’s house.
(Banerjee, 1998 pp. 23-24)
We dance before the holy man and the gods to seek blessings. We basically pray
that we should never be born again in this pitiable life of a sex worker. We pray
that our future generation be relieved of being born associated with this ugly
profession.
(Newindpress.com 2006)
These rituals to which the above quotation refer represent some of the important roles
prostitutes hold in traditional Indian society. Prostitutes were known to have special
spiritual powers and from the time of the Kothaas, were a respected part of religious and
45 Laxmi is the goddess of prosperity and money. She was worshipped at the time of the Deepavali that falls
in October or November.
41 41