Devadasi

In few parts of India, a devadasi is a female artist who is dedicated to the worship and service of a deity or a temple for the rest of her life. The dedication takes place in a ceremony that is somewhat similar to a marriage ceremony. In addition to taking care of the temple and performing rituals, these women also learn and practice classical Indian dances such as Bharatanatyam, Mohiniyattam, Kuchipudi, and Odissi. Their status as dancers, musicians, and consorts was an essential part of temple worship.

Between the sixth and thirteenth centuries, Devadasis had a high rank and dignity in society and were exceptionally affluent as they were seen as the protectors of the arts. During this period, royal patrons provided them with gifts of land, property, and jewellery. As a result, Devadasis were left without their traditional means of support and patronage and were now commonly associated with prostitution. The practice of Devadasi was banned during British rule, starting with the Bombay Devadasi Protection Act in 1934. The colonial view of Devadasi practices remains debated as the British colonial government were unable to distinguish the Devadasis from non-religious street dancers.

The Devadasi system is still in existence in rudimentary form, but under pressure from social activism at different times, some state governments have outlawed it, such as Andhra Pradesh with its 1988 Devdasis (Prohibition of Dedication) Act and Madras with its 1947 Devdasis Act.

History

The practice became significant when one of the great queens of the Somavamshi dynasty decided that in order to honour the gods, certain women who were trained in classical dancing, should be married to the deities. The inception of the practice was one that was imbued with great respect as the women who were chosen to become devadasi or “Devidasi”

were subject to two great honors: first, because they were literally married to the deity, they were to be treated as if they were the goddess Lakshmi herself, and second, the women were honored because they were considered to be "those great women who (could) control natural human impulses, their five senses and [could] submit themselves completely to God." As they were married to an immortal, the women were considered to be auspicious. Their main duties, in addition to committing to a life without marriage (to a mortal, in the common, popular sense), were to take care of a temple and learn classical Indian dances, usually the Bharatanatyam, which they would perform at temple rituals. Patrons were considered to have higher status for their ability to financially sponsor Devadasis.

According to temple worship rules, or Agamas, dance and music are the necessary aspects of daily puja for temple deities. Devadasis were known by various local terms such as Basavi in Karnataka, Matangi in Maharashtra, and Kalavantin in Goa and Damaon. Devadasis were also known as Jogini, Venkatasani, Nailis, Muralis and Theradiyan. Devadasi is sometimes referred to as a caste (varna); however some question the accuracy of this usage. "According to the devadasi themselves there exists a devdasi 'way of life' or 'professional ethic' (vritti, murai) but not a devadasi jāti (sub-caste). Later, the office of devdasi became hereditary but it did not confer the right to work without adequate qualification" (Amrit Srinivasan, 1985). In Europe the term bayadere (from , from , literally dancer) was occasionally used.

Ancient and medieval period

The definite origin of the Devadasi or Devidasi tradition is murky due to its early inception. Many scholars have noted that the tradition has no basis in scriptures. A. S. Altekar states that, "the custom of association of dancing girls with temples is unknown to Jataka literature. It is not mentioned by Greek writers, and the Arthashastra, which describes in detail the life of Ganika, is silent about it."

The tradition of female artists in temples is said to have developed during the 3rd century CE. A reference to such dancers is found in the Meghadūta of Kālidāsa, a classical poet and Sanskrit writer of the Gupta Empire. Other sources include the works of authors such as Xuanzang, a Chinese traveller, and Kalhana, a Kashmiri historian. An inscription dated to the 11th century suggests that there were 400 Devadasis attached to the Thanjavur temple in South India. Similarly, there were 500 Devadasis at the Someshvara shrine of Gujarat. ]]

The Chola empire supported the Devadasi system; in Tamil Devadasis were known as Devar Adigalar ("Deva" means "Divine" and "Adigalar" "Servants", i.e. "Servants of the Divine"). Both male and female Devadasas and Devadasis were dedicated to the service of Hindu temples and their deities. The Chola empire developed the tradition of music and dance employed during temple festivals.

Inscriptions indicate that 400 dancers, along with their gurus and orchestras, were maintained by the Brihadisvara temple, Thanjavur, with munificent grants including the daily disbursement of oil, turmeric, betel leaves, and nuts. Nattuvanars were the male accompanists of the Devadasis during their performances. The Nattuvanars conducted the orchestra while the Devadasi performed her service. Inscriptions indicate that Nattuvanars taught the Chola queen and princess Kundavai.

Natavalollu

A community of Karnataka living in Andhra Pradesh, the Natavalollu were are also known as Nattuvaru, Bogam, Bhogam, and Kalavanthulu.

It was customary in the Krishna district of Tenali for each family to give one girl to the Devadasi system. These dancers were known as Devadasis. As part of a social reform, a written agreement was made to formally end the practice.

Ādapāpas were female attendants to the ladies of the families of Zamindars. Ādapāpas were not allowed to marry. In some places such as the Krishna and Godāvari districts, Ādapāpas were known as Khasa or Khasavandlu.

Natavalollu/Kalawants were a community that was distributed throughout the state of Andhra Pradesh. They were also referred to as Devadasi, Bogamvallu, Ganikulu, and Sani. Kalavantulu means one who is engaged in art. Davesh Soneji writes that, "By the early twenty-first century, large numbers of women in the Kalavanthulu community had converted to Christianity, because this promised them a stable monthly income as members of the new rehabilitation programs of these missions."

Mahari Devadasi of Odisha

In the eastern state of Odisha Devadasis were known colloquially as Maharis of the Jagannath temple complex. The term Devadasi referred to the women who danced inside the temple. Devadasi, or mahari, means "those great women who can control natural human impulses, their five senses and can submit themselves completely to God (Vachaspati)". Mahari is a contraction of Mahan Nari, translating to, "the woman belonging to God". Chaitanya had defined Devadasis as Sebayatas who served God through dance and music. Pankaj Charan Das, the oldest guru of Odissi classical dance and who comes from a Mahari family, defines Mahari as Maha Ripu-Ari, one who conquers the six main ripus – enemies.

Unlike other parts of India, the Odia Mahari Devadasis were never sexually liberal and were expected to remain celibate upon becoming Devadasis. However, there are records of Odia Mahari Devadasi having relationships and children. It is said that the daughters of the Maharis of the Jagannath temple took to other professions such as nursing in the mid-20th century due to stigma attached to their inherent profession, as dance was frowned up during the colonial era.

The 1956 Orissa Gazette lists nine Devadasis and eleven temple musicians. By 1980, only four Devadasis were left – Harapriya, Kokilaprabha, Parashmani, and Shashimani. By 1998, only Shashimani and Parashmani were still alive. The daily ritualistic dance had stopped, although Shashimani and Parashmani served in a few of the yearly temple rituals such as Nabakalebara, Nanda Utsava, and Duara Paka during Bahuda Jatra.

Yellamma Cult of Karnataka in South India

In the southern Indian state of Karnataka the Devadasi system was practiced for over 10 centuries. Chief among them was the Yellamma cult.

There are many stories about the origin of the Yellamma cult. The most popular story indicates that Renuka was the daughter of a Brahmin, who married the sage Jamadagni, and was the mother of five sons. She used to bring water from the Malaprabha river for the sage's worship and rituals. One day at the river she saw a group of youths engaged in water sports and forgot to return home in time for her husband's worship and rituals, which made Jamadagni question her chastity. He ordered their sons one by one to punish their mother, but four of them refused on one pretext or the other. The sage cursed them to become eunuchs and had Renuka beheaded by his fifth son, Parashurama. To everybody's astonishment, Renuka's head multiplied by tens and hundreds and moved to different regions. This miracle inspired her four eunuch sons as well as others to become her followers and worship her head. A variant of this story has less sons and features gandharva as the reason Yellamma was home late. She habitually was able to form loose sand into a pot with magic createx by her chastity, but when she stared at the gandharva, the sand crumbled, dousing her in water. The first anti-Nautch and anti-dedication movement began in 1882, even though the British colonial authorities officially maintained most brothels in India. The Irish missionary Amy Carmichael was active in helping Devadasi women to escape their situation.

As the Devadasi were equated with prostitutes, they also became associated with the spread of the venereal disease syphilis in India. During the British colonial period many British soldiers were exposed to venereal diseases in brothels, and Devadasis were misunderstood to be responsible. In an effort to control the spread of venereal disease the British Government mandated that all prostitutes register themselves. Devadasis were required to register, as they were thought to be prostitutes by the British Government.

In addition to obligatory registration, the British Government also established institutions known as Lock Hospitals where women were brought in order to be treated for venereal diseases. However, many of the women admitted to these hospitals, including many Devadasi, were identified through the registry and then forcibly brought to the hospitals. A number of these women were confined in the hospitals permanently.

Evolution of Bharatanatyam

Rukmini Devi Arundale, a theosophist trained in ballet, sought to re-appropriate the Devadasi dance traditions in a context perceived respectably by Indian society which had by then adopted the western morales. She altered the dance repertoire to exclude pieces perceived as erotic in their description of a deity. She also systematized the dance in a way that incorporated the extension and use of space associated with dance traditions such as ballet. The product of this transformation was a new version of Bharatanatyam, which she taught professionally at the Kalakshetra school she established in Madras. Bharatanatyam is commonly seen as a very ancient dance tradition associated with the Natyashastra. However, Bharatanatyam as it is performed and known today is actually a product of Arundale's recent endeavour to remove the Devadasi dance tradition from the perceived immoral context associated with the Devadasi community and bring it into the upper caste performance milieu. She also adopted a lot of technical elements of ballet into the modified form of Bharatanatyam. To give the dance form a measure of respect E Krishna Iyer and Rukmini Devi Arundale proposed a resolution at a 1932 meeting of the Madras Music Academy to rename Sadirattam to "Bharatanatyam" or Indian dance.

Legislative Initiatives

The first legal initiative to outlaw the Devadasi system dates back to the 1934 Bombay Devadasi Protection Act. This act pertained to the Bombay province as it existed in the British Raj. The Bombay Devadasi Protection Act made dedication of women illegal, whether consensual or not. In 1947, the year of Indian independence, the Madras Devadasi (Prevention of Dedication) Act outlawed dedication in the southern Madras Presidency. The Devadasi system was formally outlawed in all of India in 1988, although social and economic pressures on mostly Dalit families have ensured that the Devadasi system is still widely practiced illegally.

Devadasi practices

From the late medieval period until 1910, the Pottukattu or tali-tying dedication ceremony, was a widely advertised community event requiring the full cooperation of the local religious authorities. It initiated a young girl into the Devadasi profession and was performed in the temple by a priest. The dedication was a symbolic "marriage" of the pubescent girl to the temple's deity.

In the sadanku or puberty ceremonies, the Devadasi initiate began her marriage with an emblem of the god borrowed from the temple as a stand-in bridegroom (devadasis may be married to goddesses as well as gods, depending on the regional practices, but even goddesses are frequently called "husband"). From then onward, the Devadasi was considered a nitya sumangali, a woman eternally free from the adversity of widowhood. She would then perform her ritual and artistic duties in the temple. The puberty ceremonies were not only a religious occasion, but also a community feast and celebration in which the local elites also participated.

While many devadasis are women who were assigned female at birth, in South India some devadasis (though this term is not the one typically used by the community in this region for anyone) are transgender women. Both are typically of a Dalit background.

Notable members from the Devadasi community

Bangalore Nagarathnamma
Coimbatore Thayi
R Muthukannammal
Anjanibai Malpekar
Kesarbai Kerkar
Moghubai Kurdikar
Gangubai Hangal
Padma Vibhushan dancer Balasaraswati
Veenai Dhanammal, a carnatic vocalist and a performer on the Saraswati veena.
Thanjavur Brinda and her sister Thanjavur Muktha, carnatic vocalists
M.S. Subbulakshmi
Mylapore Gowri Ammal
Phuleshwari
Muddupalani, author of Rādhikā-sāntvanam
Parasmani Debi
Sasimani Debi
Muthulakshmi Reddy
Moovalur Ramamirtham
T. Ranganathan
T. Viswanathan
Gemini Ganesan
M. L. Vasanthakumari
Lata Mangeshkar

Contemporary statistical data

Indian National Commission for Women, which is mandated to protect and promote the welfare of women, collected information on the prevalence of Devadasi culture in various states. The government of Odisha stated that the Devadasi system is not prevalent in the state. In March 2015, Sasimani Debi, the last devadasi attached to Jagannath temple, died thus bringing the curtain down on the institution.

Similarly, the government of Tamil Nadu wrote that this system has been eradicated and there are now no Devadasis in the state. Andhra Pradesh has identified 16,624 Devadasis within its state. The Karnataka State Women's University found more than 80,000 Devadasis in Karnataka in 2018; while a government study found 40,600 in 2008. The government of Maharashtra did not provide the information as sought by the commission. However, the state government provided statistical data regarding the survey conducted by them to sanction a "Devadasi Maintenance Allowance". A total of 8,793 applications were received and after conducting a survey 6,314 were rejected and 2,479 Devadasis were declared eligible for the allowance. At the time of sending the information, 1,432 Devadasis were receiving this allowance.

According to a study by the Joint Women's Programme of Bangalore for National Commission for Women, girls who have to accept becoming a Devadasi, few reasons were provided, which included dumbness, deafness, poverty, and others. The life expectancy of Devadasi girls is low compared to the average of the country, it is rare to find Devadasis older than fifty.

|documentary

|1984

|Giddh. Movie portraying the theme of exploitation of young girls in the name of Devadasi tradition. Set in villages of Maharashtra and Karnataka. Starring Om Puri and Smita Patil.

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|1987

|Mahananda, a Hindi film on the life of a Devadasi in Maharashtra, Produced and directed by Mohan Kavia.

|documentary

|2000-2001

|Krishnadasi. Television series on SunTV, based on Tamil novel Krishnadasi by Indra Soundar Rajan.

|TV series

|2002-2006

|Rudra Veenai. Television series on SunTV. A Devadasi lineage with a critical role in the story that revolves around a mysterious musical instrument.

|TV series

|2009

|Jogwa, a national award-winning Marathi feature film; a love story revolving around Dev Dasi.

|movie

|2011

|Sex, Death, and the Gods, a BBC Storyville documentary series directed by Beeban Kidron

|documentary series

|2011

|Balasaraswati: Her Art and Life. A biography of Balasaraswati.

|book

|2012

|Prostitutes of God. A controversial documentary on the lives of Devadasi sex workers. The Vice Guide to Travel

|documentary

|2016

|Krishnadasi. Television series on Colors TV depicting the lives of Devadasis married to Krishna.

|documentary series

|2016

|Agnijal Television series on Star Jalsha. A Bengali romantic drama between a King and a Devadasi.

|TV series

|2021

|Shyam Singha Roy, Telugu supernatural drama-thriller that includes the sexual exploitation of young Devadasis in the late 1960s in West Bengal. Starring Nani and Sai Pallavi.

|movie

|2024

|The Shameless, Hindi-language thriller by Bulgarian director Konstantin Bojanov featuring a Devadasi protagonist played by Omara Shetty.

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References

External links

Devadasis - Sinned or Sinned Against? by Anil Chawla.
Given to Goddess - Article on the Yellama Cult of India, 31 July 2000
Slaves to the goddess of fertility by Damian Grammaticas - BBC News, 8 June 2007 in which it's claimed that devadasis are 'sanctified prostitutes'.
Serving the Goddess, The dangerous life of a sacred sex worker by William Dalrymple. The New Yorker, 4 August 2008
Devadasi video Mystery - Article about 1930 video capture at Baroda
Prostitutes of God- VICE Travel Documentary

History

Ancient and medieval period

Natavalollu

Mahari Devadasi of Odisha

Yellamma Cult of Karnataka in South India

Evolution of Bharatanatyam

Legislative Initiatives

Devadasi practices

Notable members from the Devadasi community

Contemporary statistical data

See also

References

Further reading

External links