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. In later period the devadasis were equated with prostitutes and their children were again given away to temples. Stigma was attached to a particular caste of devadasis and they were seen as prostitutes. After a certain age they were left to fend for themselves. 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==