Query on hinjras, devadasis, sacred bovines

[Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology]

Status: RO

I'm afraid this isn't going to be a very satisfactory reply...  There is
very little literature on contemporary hijras (at least from a socio-
logical point of view - which is mine), but I will try and chase up
what there is.  In the meantime, there is a wonderful ethnographic film
on them, made and transmitted by the BBC:
 
Yorke, Michael (1991) Eunuchs - India's Third Gender [Under The Sun] 50 mins.
Anthropologist: -. [India - west/Hijras (Eunuchs)]. (Filmed in Gujarat,
Rajasthan and Bombay, this film shows the lives of eunuchs in today's India.
While some (in Rajasthan) still live a quasi-monastic existence, others (in
Bombay) have become prostitutes. Through short on context this film raises some
interesting issues concerning gender classification.).
 
(The text is from our video library catalogue).
 
On devadasis and sacred cows there is a small anthropological literature, and I
will try and put together a short list in the next day or so.
 
Marcus Banks
ISCA, Oxford