Devadasis of India by Veenus Jain

Author:Veenus Jain [Jain, Veenus]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Sociology of Religion, Customs & Traditions, History, Social History
ISBN: 9789390358991
Google: jIEiEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2021-03-18T05:34:56+00:00

Temple dancers carved on Konark temple, Puri

Besides, erotic scenes on the temple walls and niche are found at Hangal, near Bagali, Belgamve, Sinnar, and many places in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Status

Mrs. Besant writes of Indian dancing girls (her views on the devadasis were favourably quoted by the proponents of the anti-nautch campaign in the pages of the Madura Mail): ‘It is absurd to speak of dancing girls as ‘accredited ministers’. The ancient religion trained them as chaste virgins, and their ancient religious functions were dependent on their virginity. Losing that, they have lost their ministry, and my contention is merely that they are far less degraded than the prostitutes of Christendom. Prostitution is bad everywhere, but under Hinduism it is far less widespread and far less degrading than under Christianity’.

This is what Dhirendra Nath Patnaik, secretary of the Orissa Academy of Music and Dance, writes about the devadasis of Puri in his excellent book on Odissi dance : (the local word for devadasi is mahari) ‘Due to the successive Muslim invasions and weak political authority there must have been moral degeneration on the part of the maharis. Because it is from the period that the maharis, who were originally intended for temples and Gods alone, came to be employed in royal courts as well. From now on, the maharis ceased to be respected as dasis of the Lord and came to be associated with concubinage’.

The implication in this passage is that originally the devadasis were chaste and associated with the temple only and not with the court. The later association with the court brought on the custom of concubinage. This view is representative of many if not most English educated Indians today.

It is a fact that the devadasis do not sell their services. Their relationship with men would be more accurately described by the word concubinage than the word prostitution. Since the devadasi is supported by the temple and the king, she does not depend on her lovers for her maintenance. She does receive gifts, sometimes very substantial ones, but these are not considered as payments for services rendered. There is no contract between a woman and man as in the case of the common prostitute; very simply, provision of sexual services by these women is not a commercial exchange. The devadasis who restricted their relationships to brahmin priests and the king, had higher prestige.

One of the main reasons why the devadasi system fell into disrepute was that young girls were sometimes abducted to swell the numbers in the temples. This led to a concerted effort on the part of the British Government, the Indian States and some Indian social reformers, to put an end to the system and in this way a cultural heritage because being degraded started fading day by day.

1 A.S. Altekar, ‘The Position of Women in Hindu Civilization’, p. 213.

2 Ibid., p. 214.

3 Ayyar, Saivism, p. 466.

4 Motichandra, ‘The World of Courtesans’, p. 210.

5 ARSIE, 1925, No. B 411.

6 ARIE, 1962-63, No. 471.

7 Y.V. Devi, Journal of the Andhra Historical Research Society, 15, p.

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