Sanctified Prostitution as Exploitation in Disguise: A Feminist Reading of Arun Ezhuthachan’s Vishudha Papangalude India

This paper explores the influence of religion on prostitution as portrayed in Vishudha Papangalude India, a travelogue by Arun Ezhuthachan. Through the examination of joining faith, morality, and socio-economic conditions, the study delves into how religious beliefs shape societal perceptions and the lived experiences of sex workers. Through a critical analysis of the text, this research highlights the contradictions between religious ideals and the realities of marginalized communities. The results indicate that religious beliefs not only condemn prostitution but also, ironically, sustain it, providing a complex view of its function in Indian society. This study contributes to the discourse on religion and social marginalization, emphasizing the complexities of moral policing and systemic oppressions. Vishudha Papangalude India, is in the form of a Travelogue. Travel books include documentary, literary, as well as the journalistic, and from memoir to the humorous to serious. They are often associated with tourism and include guide books. Like other languages, in Malayalam also travelogues occupy a prominent place. The first travelogue written in Malayalam is Varthamanappusthakam by Paremmakkal Thoma Kathanar published in 1936. S.K Pottakkad is one of the most famous travel writers in Malayalam. He visited many foreign countries and wrote about the places. Nowadays, travel writers write about sex workers and their lives. Prostitutes were common during the period of Pandavas and Kauravas. Kautilya’s Arthasasthra contains rules for prostitutes and their activities, and gives an account of how prostitutes should behave and how their lives are ordered. They have definite liberty, rights and duties. Religious prostitutions were attached to the famous temples of Mahakala of Ujjain and thereafter the system of holy prostitution became very popular. These sacred prostitutes were sacrificed by their parents to the temple in service to the God and temple.