Devadasi

Devadasi is a religious practice existed in parts of peninsular India. Young girls are married to a local deity and thereafter their duty is to do sexual favors to the local men. Such girls are known as jogini and are forbidden to enter into a real married life.

Tradition recounts that devadasis are the incarnation of Urvasi. Devadasi's are identified by their copper bangles and a necklace carrying the image of Goddess Yellamma and several pendants. The practice of devadasi was legal in India until 1988.