Sisters of Mercy and the Temple of Love

WORDS BY SARAH HARRIS, PHOTOS BY PEGAH FARAHMAND

Mala and Belavva at home waiting for their clients.

VBS

Ha ha ha. Two devadasi prostitutes laughing at my corn-shucking skills as I help them make chapatis on the floor of their mud hut.

We attracted quite a crowd when a dedication ceremony was acted out for us during the Saundatti festival.

The first of many glamorous 12-hour train rides around India. Shame the guy next to me was not as well prepared for the trip.

Malavva is raising her grandchildren on her own since her daughter, also a devadasi, died of HIV.

A revelation halfway through our trip: apparently men can be devadasis too. Pandu, a cross-dressing male sex worker, showed us how to trick customers into wearing condoms with a nifty slip of the tongue.

Sudir (left), our translator for the day, poses with his new boyfriend.

Malavva (left), 45, was sold into prostitution by her own mother when she was just 12. She now sells her body to truck drivers by the side of the road for the equivalent of 30p.

The most important event in the Yellamma calendar: Saundatti festival.

Sari shopping with the devadasis. The girls, who are all from the untouchable caste, don’t usually venture into town for fear of being stared at by the higher castes.

Sangli’s notorious red-light district, Gokul Nagar, which has helped this town earn its tragic reputation as having the second highest rates of HIV in the state.

This is Anita, the proud owner of her own brothel in Sangli. She gave us a tour of her house, showing us her impressive sari collection, colour TV and homemade “sex rooms”.

Welcome to one of the strangest hotels in India: an Indian Fawlty Towers with blood-stained sheets. Only one other whitey had ever stayed here before. I know that because they had mounted a photo of her on the wall.

Room service was furry white rabbits hand-delivered to our rooms for no apparent reason. As you can see from his expression, our cameraman Pierre was really pleased by this unusual treat.