Zee Kannada brings to you a New Serial 'Gejje Pooje'

Zee Kannada has become the talk of the town for presenting heart warming stories to the audience. Now, it brings to you another compelling story "Gejje Pooje".
Gejje Pooje revolves around the story of Oevadasis and will start its journey through the viewer's heart from Monday, 4th of October 2010, every weekday, 8 to 8.30pm.
The director of the successful serial "Jogula" Vinu Balanja is directing this serial.
A girl born in a family of Oevadasis wishes to build a different world for herself but circumstances make her a victim of this age old evil social custom. "Gejje Pooje" is her story.

Chandragiri is a small village in the interiors of Shivamoga. It's a village filled with unethical social customs. One such custom of getting girls married to Gods is prevalent here. Every year girls are married off to Gods and then they become temple dancers offering prayers to the god. In actual these girls become offerings to rich men.
Kalpana is the beautiful younger daughter of Yamuna, a Oevadasi. Kalpana has come of age. The men of the village want her to follow the footsteps of her mother and perform the Gejje Pooje ritual but innocent Kalpana has no idea about the hell she is getting pushed into.

A rich flirtatious man in Sakaleshpur, Oharmaiah was the highest bidder when Kalpana's elder sister became a Oevadasi. He had the pleasure of spending the night with her. Now he has set his lustful eyes on Kalpana. Preparations for this ritual are going on in full swing. Kalpana is unaware of the fact that she is being made into a scapegoat. Oharmaiah and other rich men of the village including some politicians have come to the ritual. The nuptial knot is about to be tied when an unexpected incident happens and becomes the foundation on which the rest of the story unfolds.

History of this social custom:
The first mention of temple dancers can be seen in Kalidasa's "Meghdootham", Kalidasa did not call them as Devadasi. During the 6th century the Devadasi practice became famous throughout South India, later on during the Cholas regime this evil practice became very famous. During the Hoysala period, an open air arena was built in the temple complex especially for these Oevadasis. In 1988 the government of Karnataka passed a law to abolish this custom. At present, people are under jhe impression that this practice has become extinct.    

A survey done by BBC, just three months back showed that there where 25,000 Devadasis in Karnataka. In the Yellamma temple of Soudathi, the practice of marrying young girls to the gods and then offering them to the rich men of the village is an open secret.

Director: Vinu Balanja Dialogue: Satyamurthy Anandur Story: Parameshwara Gundkal

The director:
Vinu Balanja created a unique place for himself in viewer's heart through the serial "Preethi Iliada Mele". Zee Kannada's successful 500 episodes serial "Jogula" is another feather in his cap. He has gained a special place in people's heart by presenting stories with a unique narrative style and compelling theme.

Actors
Kalpana (Central Character) - Suma Hari Prasad - Madhu Hegde Manjula - Jyothi Rai
Dharmaiah -Ashok Hegde
Rukmini - Usha Bhandari
Chitra - Nishita Gowda
Yamuna - Aruna Balraj
Nagu - K.V. Nagaraj Murthy Guruprasad - Guru Hegde