Madurai has been famous for such absurd rituals in the past. So far this seems to be the eye of a another human rights storm. The ritual is conducted in temple in Madurai, where girls are obligated to live bare-chested and spend 15 days in the care of a male priest. At the end of 15 days, these girls are worshiped as Goddesses and are only allowed to cover their upper body with jewellery. The criteria of selection of girls is that they mustn’t have attained puberty.

Madurai collector K Veera Raghava said that this is a very old tradition and parents voluntarily sent the girls to be part of this ceremony. “It is an ancient custom. Parents send their girls voluntarily,” said Madurai collector K Veera Raghava Rao. Facing flack from the more educated people, he ordered clothes for the girls to ensure they were not harassed or abused.

“We informed the villages that the girls have to be properly clothed. They can wear jewellery over their clothes,” he added. Mr Rao asserted, however, that a team of officials investigated and found no abuse of children at the temple. “”They treat them as Goddesses,” he said.

More than 60 villagers participate in this ritual to worship these girls as Goddess and collector has ordered to cover these girls fully in clothes.

In this local ritual which is performed at a Madurai temple, more than 60 villages participate where the girls are dressed and worshiped like goddesses and paraded half-naked.

Madurai has been famous for such absurd rituals in the past. Many years ago, the age-old ‘child burial’ practice had caused international outrage. Under the ‘child burial’ ritual, childless couple, when blessed with a baby, were expected to bury their new born under one-foot pit for a minute as fulfillment of their vow.

The practice was later banned by the state government under huge condemnation by human rights bodies.