Nari Kamakshi, an accomplished researcher and an aspiring Phd scholar, had been struggling to get a passport for the past two years because she was the daughter of a Devdasi and hence lacked the father’s name required for the processing of her documents.
After a long struggle, she finally received a passport on May 26.
The Devadasi system is a centuries-old tradition where young girls are “offered” as girl children to Goddess Mathamma and made to serve the deity. These women end up being sexually exploited by wealthy men who are temple patrons, as they have no legal or social agency, and face social ostracism. They are bound by the practice under societal pressure.
In an article for TNM, Kamakshi describes her experience of trying to have a passport issued in her name as ‘humiliating’, stating that she was ‘mocked and ridiculed’ for not having a father’s name. Kamakshi had applied for a passport in April 2023 in Delhi after being accepted for a PhD programme abroad. She had all the required documents, including a government-issued certificate proving her mother’s status as a Devadasi.
However, what she thought would be a routine task turned out to be a nightmare as she was mocked and questioned and dismissed at every turn, which led her to withdraw her application. Refusing to give up, she reapplied in March 2025 in Bengaluru in the Tatkal category but was faced with rejection again. Then in May, she switched her application from Tatkal to normal and her Passport Seva Kendra from Bangalore to Bellary.
Kamakshi says despite the Maharashtra High Court’s decision allowing a mother’s name alone to be used in official documents and the Karnataka Devadasi (Prohibition of Dedication) Act, 1982, and the 2018 Rehabilitation Bill, she and many others like her continue to face struggles in a system that refuses to acknowledge their identity.
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