Kamathipura Mumbai’s Red Light area brings in nine-day Durga Pooja with Jhaanki as Yellamma Devi
No doubt Dusshera festival is celebrated in its true religious fervour. Though the festival devoted to Goddess Durga is celebrated with great devotion and in a big way in Bengal as the Bengalis are true devouts of the Goddess, likewise even in Mumbai, the nine day festival is celebrated with great pomp. Particularly, the Gujaratis bring in this festival with the most popular folk dance Garba. In every lane and bye-lanes in SoBo as well as in the suburbs richly decorated pandals with religious music enthralls the people and more so the foreign tourists who get attracted to the garba dance form accompanied with drums and dolaks. The deity too is adorned with glittering jewellery and richly attired. But this time the attraction took one to Mumbai’s oldest red light in the 11th lane of Kamathipura where the Durga Pandal witnessed Devi Maa’s Jhaanki as the avtaar of Yellama Devi.
‘Hello Mumbai News Team took the opportunity to visit this shady place and interviewed Ganesh Maharaj, one of the organizers of the event. Speaking to the News Team he said, we have been celebrating this Durga Puja since 1985 when we put up the pandal in this red light area. This was on the demand by local sex workers because they are deprived of seeing such type of pandal in local vicinity. Kamathipura is a residence to sex workers coming from West Bengal Nepal and Andhra Pradesh. They look upon this festival with great divinity.And it was based on this that the Durga Pooja Pandal came into existence and every year the nine-day festival is celebrated with great devotion to the merriment of the so called sex-workers sho enjoy the garba dance form throught nine-days.
The Maharaj further added that money is collected from among the sex-workers and moreover donations also come from the local people too.The funds received thro donations goes into the support of the sex workers towards their welfare viz education and health. This year our Jhaanki theme was “Yellamma Devi” because 70 per cent of sex workers in the red light area are true followers of “Yellamma Devi” meaning they are Devdaasis who worship Yellamma Devi since they repose true faith in her and that’s precisely is the one good reason shy we planned to go in for something unique or different.
In the course of the interview Ganesh Maharal slammed at the very ‘Misconception” of Devdaasi Partha which is an old tradition going on in the name of Goddess Worship. In the name of Devdaasi Parth, the upper class strata people induce sex slave in the name of Devdaasi Partha which is incorrect he said. Furthsr adding he said time has changed and people have realised now.
On the condition of anonymity a sex worker Sareeta (name changed) asserted that the sex workers barred from going out for the Durga Pooja celebration and partake in the garba. So they feel rejoiced that Durga Maa is brought to their area. They repose blind faith in Yellamma Devi whom they worship and many sex workers in this area are victims of Devdaasi Partha. The sex worker urged to plead to put an end to this so called sex-exploitation in the name of Devdaasi Partha. Not only Durga Puja we celebrate Muharram , Ramzan ,Ganesh Utsav also every year Ganesh maharaj added.
Compiled by: K.V.Raman
