Nagpur: In Ganga Jamuna, Navratri a time to pray, find ‘shakti’

NAGPUR: Sex work and brothel may be the most degraded word and place, and usually devoid of any religious connect, but in case of Navratri, there is a distinct relation with the red-light areas, womanhood and stree shakti (women’s power). Ganga Jamuna, the city’s red-light-area, is no different.
As per religious traditions, soil from the courtyards of prostitutes is to be used for preparing idols of goddess Durga.
According to source in Laskaribagh Kalibari, around 200 sacks of loose soil from the banks of Ganga river and brothels have arrived in Nagpur from Kolkata. The soil will be used by local and Bengali artisans to prepare idols for puja pandals in the city.
TOI visited a few houses in Ganga Jamuna where many women feel that just like the sex work, their families have inherited customs and rituals of Navratri too.
In Ganga Jamuna, women have been celebrating Navratri and worshipping Durga at their homes for decades. It’s more common among those having ancestral links with Gwalior where Navratri is a major festival.
“Our kuldevi (home deity) is Maa Chamuda and the puja at our home was passed on to my cousin by her mother several years ago. The puja tradition must be more than five decades old at our house,” said a woman from Kalkhor family in one of the lanes.
The woman said she would not plead to the goddess over issues like losses during the Covid lockdown and CP Amitesh Kumar’s decision to prohibit prostitution, “but rather treat her as a guest whose blessings are most-sought after for them”.
“Whatever are the issues, we shall face them. It’s our fight,” she said adding that nine days of Navratri give them “special spiritual prowess”.
Another women from a different brothel said sex work does not make their rituals “unholy”. “This is our livelihood. Like in any other place, we begin and end our day with prayers and puja. We don’t miss even a single ritual,” she said.
A woman, who has spent several decades in Ganga Jamuna, said Navratri pujas in the locality go back to the days when most dwellings were mere huts. “It’s not surprising to know that Navratri pujas in houses of Ganga Jamuna are 50-60 years or even older,” she said and added, “We are first woman, then sex worker. The mother goddess is special for all the women, irrespective of their background.”
Hemlata Lohave, project manager of Indian Red Cross Society, who has been working with the female sex workers for 22 years, said she had seen the residents here following the rituals as rigorously as any other women. “They observe fast, perform ghatsthapna and Navkanya puja with utmost reverence. They also visit Mahur, Dongargadh and Koradi during this period,” said Lohave.