Chapter- III
Forms
of Ritual Dedication
Initial period of
Devadasi ritual in India
Even
though evidence is lacking about the dancing girl in Harappan civilization, the
bronze image found from Harappa, the ‘Dancing girl’ is considered to the first
and foremost dancing girl in this tradition. Most of the scholars and
archaeologists went far ahead to interpret the dancing girl as the sacred
prostitute whom is carrying her duties to the mother goddesses. Apart from this
a lot of clay dancing figures which have been found from there, can be
concluded as dancing girl related to rituals, but without proper evidence or
concrete fact it is hard to say what it is.
With
the advent of writing and through inscriptions, we get an idea of this ritual
practices. Which are scattered all around India, in caves, literary works,
inscriptions. The oldest mention of a courtesan is probably in Rig Veda, Where
the goddess of dawn Usha is compared to a dancing girl richly clad in revealing
embroidered garments; The pumschali, a sacred courtesan, played a role in
ritual, or vratya… the Atharva Veda described the courtesan as a
Gandharvangrihita… scholars interpret this as the beginning of the later
practice of marriage of the courtesan to some deity[1]. The next reference
about dancing girls comes from Natya Shastra, “went about directing a
dance- drama to entertain the gods, he needed women actors and dancers.
Complying with his request, the god Brahma created apsaras, or celestial
dancing nymphs, who were an early avatar of the devadasis”[2]. David Kopf finds the
beginning of this was from East Bengal, of the Rajbhansi tribe, where young
women would do naked dance in barren lands to please the god of rain for good
harvest. This certain ritual has been called as Hudama.
In
time, the importance God began to rise as well as the importance of rituals. In
some temples, there performed human sacrifices to please the God/ Goddesses to
attain prosperity in their lands, for some it was animal sacrifice and for some
it was hard core prayers and some it was dancing to please the Gods. Dancing
was considered as the most important ritual for the Devadasis. Apart from
these, the Devadasi’s were considered to get more economic stability in the
society which led them to follow the path of temple dancers and also to get
cure from the diseases which her family members are suffering from. All these
were out of fear and devotion.
The
custom of temple dance became more and more common from sixth century onwards, with
the existence of Puranas, in which it had reference for devadasis. Hiuen
Tsang, the Chinese traveler mentions about girls, whom are leading religious
life, worshipping God, take part in the its rituals all through the day in the
Sun temple located in Multan, Sind, which is a clear-cut reference to temple
dancers/ devadasi custom. The Puranas make reference to girls singing
and dancing in temples to provide divine service. Bhavisya Purana notes
that, the purchasing of girls to temple service, also, the Tejupur Copper plate
(ninth century), mentions the dedication of the dancing girls to the Siva
temple.
In Indian history, it has been said
that, the 5th- 6th century marks the end of ancient
period and beginning of the modern era. From this period, certain economic
factors played a decisive role in paving way for a new social and political structure
based essentially on the land system.[3]During the period of feudal powers, the major change
was that, instead of giving cash, the king granted large- scale of land grants
to persons of military and its officials, authorities, religious institutions.
Bhakti literature also depicts the devadasis
and their passion as well. “Paravai, Sangili and Manikka Nachiyar were three
legendary dancers whose praise is sung by many Nayanmars and most notably in
Sekkilar's Periapuranam. Saivite, Vaishnavite and Virasaivite saints
have immortalised temple dancers in their Bhakti poetry. Before the second
century, when temple women were assigned specific duties, there is only mention
of the word ‘sule’ (meaning prostitute) in inscriptions.[4] In
the 11th century, a time when the temple as an institution was
expanding, the word ‘patra’ (meaning singing/dancing girl) was gradually
attached to them”. The word ‘devadasi’ itself is conspicuous by its absence in
this period, although it was then current in the inscriptions of neighboring regions
as well as in the ‘vachana’ literature of the Virashaivas.[5]
During the Bhakti period there were a lot of temple building activities. R S
Sharma put it as ‘with the puja was interlinked the doctrine of bhakti
of complete self-surrender of the individual to his god, which became a
distinctive feature of medieval religion, especially in South India from the
seventh century. Bhakti reflected the complete dependence of the tenants
or semi-serfs on the landowners in medieval times.’[6] The
Bhakti literature also gives us indirect information about the devadasis system
in temples. The Saivite saints like, Appar, Sambandar, Sundarar as well
as Vaisnava saints like Tirumangai Alvar and Antal have given references to devadasis
in their hymns; Saint Appar portrays the place of dancing- girls in a
festival procession of the Tiruvadirai (birth asterism of Siva) day in
Tiruvarur, he says that the ‘procession of the deity was followed first by the devas,
then by vanaramankaiyar (celestial nymphs) and then by the devotees.[7]
These celestial nymphs were also considered to be dancing girls, so according
the Saint Appar, during that era, singing and dancing were also a part of
temple ritual.
The Agamic traditions and the Bhakti Movement,
spearheaded by the Nayanmars (Saivite hymnists) and the Alvars (Vaisnavite
hymnists) coupled with the Puranic stories brought about transformation in the
society. To attain moksha (liberation), all the saints propagated a
state of intense devotion and absolute surrender of body and soul to the
Almighty.[8]
The Nayanar saints popularized the temple system to a huge extent.
Tirumular was famous personality to spread the idea of popularizing temple and
construct it, by following the right conduct. For him, construction of new
temples means, cleaning of the premises. All these favorable ideologies spread
the construction of temple activities in a large scale. They prescribed the
ways and means of introducing singing and dancing in ritual worship. Convinced
of their devotion and dedication, princes, priests and people joined them in
their endeavor to bring about a socio-religious transformation. The Bhakti movement
provided the opportunity to worshippers of all castes-whether he was a vellala,
pulaiya, washer man[9]-
to serve God and aspire for liberation. Service to gods could be rendered by
constructing and renovating temples, cleaning their premises, making garlands
of flowers, lighting temple lamps, singing in praise of the deity and dancing
for their entertainment.[10]
All this means the construction of temples is a necessity and were constructed
on a large scale as well. Also, this made the devadasi system to be
institutionalized.
During the initial phase of medieval
period, large-scale transfer of lands to brahmins, religious
institutions and officers of the state, coincide with some of the developments,
such as decline of trade and commerce, the disappearance of coins and the decay
of urban centers; All this ultimately led to the closed economy of the
villages. The situation proved favorable to the expansion of the temple system;
Owing to the closed economy of villages, large-scale conversion of agricultural
surplus into money was difficult; The surplus had therefore, to be spent within
the village or group of villages and preferably on public works, for example, irrigation
channels, wells, tanks and places of public worship.[11]
Soon, the temples become one of the wealthiest
institutions. Like that, the temples began to known as ‘koyil’, which is
an adaption of the king’s palace. The term Koyil was first used during
the Pallava dynasty of Sirrambakam which belongs to the first year of
Paramesvaravarman I.
The temples started to dominate the
society from ninth- century onwards. The temples which were built by the
donations of the kings and royal authorities and guilds from the merchants of
the village, started to influence socio- economic aspects of the state. The
temples which were built on a village, mainly for local purposes was under the supervision
of the community under the village elders. The temples, helped in learning and
cultural activities. When we look the temples in economic sphere, they were the
great landowners of the village. They give the lands to the peasants or farmers
under agreement and collected land revenue which they didn’t have to give to
the royal treasury. These south Indian temples also provided a lot of job
opportunities to the local people, as scribers, painters, sculptors, builders, laborer’s,
musicians etc.
Since the economy of the temple increased,
they started to conduct lot of rituals and festivals for the temple. Hence, a
huge number of servants were appointed to manage the vast property of the
temple and help them in the ritual processes, likewise, the number of priests
were also increased. The greater the temple, the greater the number of priests
and the rituals. So, they led a good fortune life, compared to the common
people. But in the Pallava period, the situation wasn’t like this, because they
made donations and gifts in a limited scale, from which, it was impossible to
manage a huge section of servants nor priests. Hence, during the time of
Pallava King, Paramesvaravarman I, the Siva temple in Kuram was managed by less
people around four. They managed the temple and its ritual, recited the sholkas
from Mahabharata, watered the mandapam, all these functionalities were done by
four people. The situation changed form the next century onwards. Muktesvara
temple in Kanchi had around 54 employees in which 32 were dancing girl. The
temple was built by Queen of Nandivarman Pallavamlla. So, it is obvious that,
with the funding from the royal authorities the temples flourished and had
enough wealth to maintain around 32 devadasis.
Likewise, the temples grown as a high
institution, and soon they started to demand for respect, and attracted a lot
of people to the temple, even from neighboring state. The temple controlled the
villages, as they were to create laws and regulations in the village. They
guided people to path of happiness. The practice of devadasis become more
prevalent from 9th- 10th centuries onwards, or at least
from the end of 8th century. The temple was not only a place for
religious worship, but also used as a center of socio- cultural activities as
well. A gathering place for all people in the villages.
Another section which promoted the growth of
devadasi custom was the priestly class. They emerged power in south India
during the Bhakti era, and they had unlimited access to power and money. The
priests were considered as the mediator between man and God, so they wrote
dharma of the land, and natured themselves. Whenever, a need comes, the King tries
meet the priest to know the upcoming events. The common people meet them to
known the auspicious and inauspicious moments. Like that, to gain more power in
the society, and with the help of the king, they were look upon as the center
of power. Which in turn, helped to the growth of devadasi system.
Another section which enhanced the
devadasis system was the basavi system.[12]
In the absence of a male heir in the
family, some women temporarily reverted to the system of descent through
daughter (the marumakkathayyam system). The daughter was dedicated to
the temple as a basavi among whom descent was always in the female line[13].
from that moment, she become the sole heir of the property and could do all the
funeral rites for her parents as she was their son. After that, she could
choose the man of her liking, from any caste, whether it could be higher or
lower. After the marriage, her son could inherit the property, if she is
blessed with a daughter, she will become a basavi and the process
continues.
By the 12th century,
specific duties were assigned to temple women. “The temple complex came
increasingly to resemble the king's court, and the devadasi’s relation to the
deity approximated the courtesan's relation to the king. The sacred prostitute
gradually became the custodian of the arts of singing and dancing. For her
services to the temple, the devadasi enjoyed grants made either to her
personally or to the temple. These included grants of lands, some of which were
made by upper caste women themselves. By the late 19th century, the devadasi
tradition was a decidedly matrilineal one. The young dedicated girl underwent
rigorous training in 'nritya' and Gita under a male guru, which entitled her
access to a structure of cash payments through the temple or through personal
land grants from the sexual alliances she developed with upper caste patrons”; her
strict professionalism, says Amrit Srinivasan, “made her an adjunct to
conservative domestic society, not it sravager, an assertion borne out by the
number of female donors of grants to temples for their services" indeed,
the devadasi's legal rights entitled her to adopt daughters and pass property
on to her female descendants.[14]
Functions and forms of Devadasi temple ritual in South India
There is a
popular saying in South India, ‘a place without a temple is unsuitable for
human habitation’[15].
Which is indeed certain because where ever there is a human settlement, there
is also a presence of divine entity present there, which could be in form of a
temple or a place of worship. The atmosphere there is charged with divine
presence which demands of worship. These regions have their own rituals and
customs to follow, and the people becomes aware of this, and follows this
tradition and rites. Hence, there itself various types of temples and shrines
exists side by side in a particular village itself. The purest part of the
village is formed by the four ‘grand’ roads around the great temple, during
festival days the temple- chariot follows this quadrangle round the temple[16].
But when it comes the purity of the people, most of the people were removed
from this ritual centre, according to their jobs, which are according to the unclean
professions, and people whom are considered to be the lowest class of strata,
the ones whom are worshipping the indigenous God (non- Brahminic Gods). In this
context, there can be seen there are two forms of Gods, in the society, one is
the local deity, where people pray but won’t spend huge money from their
pockets to held huge festivals and the other one is the prominent Gods. The
second section are the important ones because of the huge temple structure they
are being seated and the tremendous festival and rituals which have been held
to commemorate them.
In this view,
every God has their own unique power structure and their own modes of worship.
It is to be noted that, the continuation of Hinduism is based on the mutual
contact and influence. This becomes especially clear in the festival mode of
Agamic worship that transgresses the protected space allotted to its daily
rituals; the festival procession touches the four grand roads around the
temple, and sometimes even the entire village, including all its resident gods,
goddesses, demons and devils, the inclusion of these gods or the protection of
the deities of the temple against them was a natural result.[17].
Temples in South India, known as
ksetra, koyil/ kovil, devasthana, devalaya can be classified into four
sections, which are
1.
Indigenous temple
2.
Agamic temple
3.
Royal temple
4.
Pilgrimage temple[18]
The Indigenous temples which belong to
the local people of that specific region, and they worship according to their
rites (non- Brahminic rites). The second and third types of temples are similar
in their outlook, customs and rituals. The difference among them was, the royal
temple houses a God who is considered as a Guardian to them, who serves to
protect them and the nation. The both of these temples follow the traditions
and customs according to the Sanskrit Agamas. These types rituals should be
continuous and precise one, not like the indigenous temples, where they perform
rites in the distress. The last one, Pilgrimage temple is the fusion of Agamic
and indigenous temple. Not seldom is such a pilgrimage centre based on a ‘very
powerful’ indigenous cultic spot, overlaid with a more prestigious Agamic
layer; up to recent times, Brahmins and Tamil Sudras have performed side by
side worship in these temples, they function for all types of aims:
propitiation and help, spiritual progress and prestige as well as devotion and
grace[19].
The Devadasis take part in the rituals
mainly during early morning- mid day and evening- night. The morning rituals
were devoid of songs to complement the dance which takes place at the same time
in the inner spectrum along with the first major offering; offerings were
inclusive of cooked food and other food offerings to which the public is not
allowed to vision the deities as it takes place behind closed doors[20].
Meanwhile the dancing of Devadasis weren’t a public event. Rituals which are
being held during the morning are a prime example of royal offerings in which
out of three meals served to the deities are called along with the dance of
Devadasi. The dewy morning takes a deity to be awakened, to be bathed, dressing
up in elaborate robes and light refreshment; a morning male that is followed by
an afternoon nap, offering lamps, incense and perfumery; and the evening meal
envelopes around intense and elaborate decoration with flowers, night
refreshment; the day culminates with a ‘putting to sleep ceremony’[21].
The Major rituals performed by the
Devadasis for the temple are
1.
Tiruppalliyelucci (rising up from the sacred
couch)[22]:
most of the times, it was the duty of the Devadasi to rise the god with making
auspicious sounds and music, which is a decorative ritual. The examples of
these such songs are find in the Tiruvasakam, written by Manikkavacakar during
9th century AD, in Telugu, the songs composed by Sri Tyagaraja, the
Melukolupu songs are famous for this.
2.
Vilapuja (unfolding puja): at 6.00am is
sometimes joined with the performance of kalaicanti puja and of cirualaicanti
(small morning sandhi) at 9.00 am.[23]the
kalaicanti puja is considered as the purification of God, and followed by a
small procession, but most of the times, this procession is neglected. As part
of this ritual some devadasis had to bring a plate, for offering lights
(candles) and some accompanied a small scale utsava, by singing songs to the
deities.
3.
Uccikalam (puja at zenith time)[24]:
the time period for this pooja is around 11-12 am. Even though the Agamic
tradition have given it much of value, the role of Devadasis was less important.
4.
Gayaratcai (dusk puja)[25]:
being held in the evening time from 4.00pm to 8.00pm. during these pujas, most
of the devotees came to the temple for the worship of God and the role of
Devadasis in higher during these times. Like morning, evening pujas were held
with utmost importance and considered to be the auspicious moments. According
to the south Indian tradition the Goddess Lakshmi lives between the two sandhis
(morning and night), hence the Devadasis were in- charge of ward off evil from
the temple premises, by lighting lamps. The waving of pot- lamp was performed
by regular turns, the number of turns to offer the pot- lamp corresponded to
the number of houses available for devadasi families; the right to become a
devadasi fit for this task and to enjoy the use of the house and lands attached
to it was a hereditary one.[26]
Each year one family among them is in charge of waving the lamp, and the
household and Devadasi should be in utmost purity because it was one of the
major rituals. They followed rules for this ritual very severely.
These lamps were
firstly blessed and purified by the priest and then only handed over to the
Devadasis. After rotating the lamp before the main deity, she should repeat the
same ritual at the other shrines, at the same time other devadasis would sing
mangalas, standing at the side with their arms crossed over each other ‘like a
servant’; after offering the kumbhadipa, another devadasi would dance
puspanjali, a small composition that combined a sloka on the pertinent deity
with a modest choreography[27].
It is a certain
fact that, Gayaratcai puja is the most important puja while comparing with the
previous ones. While this puja is being held the Devadasis fan the deity. In
the evening there held small scale possession, in which the Agamas find that,
the dance and music have a major role to play. A huge crowd can be seen only
during a major festival.
5.
Arttacamam and Palliyarai cevai[28]:
this is the final ritual being held in the temple after 8.00pm, and accessible
to the public. After another diparadhana[29],
this time less elaborate, the god or goddess is carried to the bed- chamber; in
this case the deity is represented either by a small image or by his slippers;
in the bed chamber the divine pair is seated together on a swing, and gently
rocked to sleep; lullabies and swing songs used to be sung by devadasis[30],
an example of this has been elaborated in Kersenboom, as,
‘Sankari
herself moves the swing
Sarasvati
came, she sings,
Sakaladeva,
too, joins.
After
having touched the lord by the jewel on the crown of the peacock,
This
queen- mother allows fresh milk to flow freely.
She
has washed her chest with rose- water and silver water.
Swing…
Swing… [31]
After that, the doors to the deity
have been closed, and only opens in the next day by hearing melu- kolupu[32]
Apart from these
temple rituals constituted by the Devadasis, the Devadasis have another ritualistic
works as well. Their major characteristic ritual was the offering of
Diparathana. Another ritual is Ajitagama, where after mahasandhi, the
priest closes the ritual with a dance, from Devadasis. Hence, we can conclude
that, the most important ritualistic event in which the Devadasis participated
was diparathana, and performing of pushpanajali. Not only removing evil
influences, and even more strikingly, the use of the Kumbhadipa. But also, the
task of lingalayam (reabsorption of the linga) seems to connect the devadasi
with Tantrism, especially with Kundalini yoga[33].
In Hindu Tantrism, Sanjukta Gupta states about Layayoga that, ‘since the
macrocosm and microcosm both owe their creation to Brahman and Prakrti, like
they are closely related or might even be considered identical. Therefore,
knowledge of the microcosm automatically results in knowledge of the macrocosm.
On the individual level, the phenomenal world functions when Kunalini, the
infinitesimal part of the cosmic energy, lied asleep in the individuals
muladhara. By awakening her, and bringing her up to the point just above the
top of susumna, called sahasrara cakra, where cosmic energy- the aggregate of
all kundalinis- resides in inseperable union with Parama Siva (Brahman, the
Supreme Deity), and there merging with her with the cosmic energy, the yogin is
able to obtain spiritual release from the bondage of this world and everything
worldly. We can see in the process that symbolically he has reversed the
process of creation and effected the reabsorption of the world (and himself)
into undifferentiated unity. This process is known as Laya’[34]
this concept is a very must while evaluating the daily rituals of the Devadasis
in temple. While on the one hand, an anthropomorphic god is offered all
comforts, including song and dance, a cosmic process is, on the other hand
taking place: the generation of cosmic energy in the linga, that must be
safeguarded (by means of diparadhana), cooled off (by various offerings) and
reabsorbed into an undifferentiated unity; if this were not affected, the
Energy thus generated would ‘burn up the entire kingdom and butaloka[35]
would come into existence’.[36]
It can be said that, the Devadasis were doing a ritual which was extremely
important as well risky. Even still, the Devadasis were the one’s who’s
considered more suitable to do this task.
Practice in Orissa
When we look into the eastern part of
India, the only place where Devadasi system was prevailed was Orissa,
especially in Jagannath Temple. The construction of temple was started in 12th
century and finished by Ananga Bhima Dev. The temple consists of four halls;
1.
Bhogmandir-
for having food
2. Nata- Mandir- hall of music and dance
3. Jagamohana- hall for devotees
4.
Deul-
deity worship
As it mentions, in Nata- Mandir where
Devadasis performed. What the striking feature is here is that, the devadasis
only danced for the God. Dancing in front of others was banned. Like,
everywhere in India, in Orissa as well, they formed many sects, in time. The
sect known as the Bhitar gaunis could perform at the innermost chamber of the
temple at the time of Bada- Shringar (bed time of the lord), the Bahar gaunis or
nachunis danced only in the outer hall hear the Garuda Sthambha, during the
morning offering.[37]
In all festivals and rituals, the duties of the two communities were divided
each other. Likewise, the Bhitargaunis sang in the ‘Duar Paka’ ceremony at
representative of Lakshmi, they also sang in the Julan festival of Nabakalebar;
the Bahar Gaunis danced in the main hall, in the morning, in the boat at
Chandanjatra festival and participated in Nanda Utsav.[38]
In this, the Bhitargaunis were the highest among them.
They
perform twice a day, morning and evening. In morning the Bahar gunis dance
without the help of songs. They dance accordingly to the offering takes place
in sanctum. In the morning the rajaguru comes to the temple, and goes to
the dance hall and would be seated in the eastern side of the hall. The
Devadasis whom are already there, would be dancing without singing, accompanied
by drummers. Pilgrims and other visitors of the temple watch the dance since
they cannot watch the offering which takes place behind closed doors; this
ritual of the devadasi is called a ‘procession’, even though no actual
procession takes place.[39] The
Rajaguru is present whenever the Devadasis were required to dance, while for
other rituals the temple servants were enough to witness it. The king would
come daily to the temple, and the procession is occurred twice a day, early in
the morning and evening, when the god is putting to sleep. The Bhitar gauni
would sing at the Badashringhar, the main ceremony for ornamenting and dressing
the Lord Jagannath, at bedtime, would be first served by male attendants- they
would fan Him and decorate Him with flowers; after they leave, a Bhitar gauni
would then enter the room, stand near the door and sing Gita Govinda songs and
perhaps perform a ritual dance.[40]
After the dance performance, she come out and say that the God is asleep, at
that instant the guard will come and close the main gate.
The
important festivals in which the devadasis were danced were;
1. Chandanjatra:
a celebration which lasted for around 21 days in the month of march. Jagannatha
will take to a boat ride in Narendra Pond, accompanied by Devadasis in another
boat. This dance was done by Bahar gaunis. The final part of the ceremony was
done in the temple called as Gupta Jatra, where danced by the bhitara gaunis.
2. Rath
Jatra: on this occasion the devadasis will go to the Gundicha mandapa and dance
in front of it. On the Hera Panchami day, the lord still in the Gundicha
temple, a break a stick of the chariot to indicate Lakshmi’s jealousy and
anger, the Devadasis, as Lakshmi’s friends engage in a mock quarrel with the
Pandas outside, who were supposed to be Lord’s friends.[41]
Another major festival were devadasis
participated were: Nabakalebar Rath Yatra, Rukmini Vivaha,etc. another feature
of the Jagannatha temple is the tantric panchamakra mode, which are:
1. Matshya:
substituted for green vegetables cooked with Hingu
2.
Mansa: preparation of Adda (ginger)
3.
Madhya: green coconut water
4.
Mudra: pudding prepared with sugar and
flour named as Kanti
5. Maithuna:
peculiar dance of devadasis.
Brundabati was the last Devadasi who performed the
daily evening ritual[42],
and she got a around thirty rupee per month, for her service.
Devadasis ritual’s in Chola Period and
Inscriptions
According
to the inscriptions during Chola period, making gift for the temples was the
utmost job for temple women. They used the gifts to make connections throughout
the village which was very crucial for their identity.
·
In the forty- ninth year of the reign of
Sri Koluttunkacoladevar, this deed of land sale was declared and recorded in
Manavanakkalamanatu, in Nakaraneolakeralapuram, in Venkunranatu, in
Venkunrakottam, in Cayankontacolamantalam, with the agreement, on behalf of the
(nakaram), of us, the nakarattar of this town, including
Nerkunran Kilan Kutameratiruvatikal,Kannuva Pakkilan Vatavayi.....Catina
Accinataratippan,Nerkunran Kilan KaliyanMakiyan, Manappakkilan,
Karaikkiyemarrayilaiyan, Nallulan Svami Amutu, andNerkunra Kilan Gri Vatavayil.
Cuntari
Utayainceytal alias Puventiyaeola-manikkam, a temple woman (idevaratiyarj of
Lord Matukulamatevisvaram of this village (ur j, purchased from the
town(nakaram) and donated 2 veils of land (whose boundaries are
described in detail), to provide offerings (tirupatimarrum)& festival
lamps for this god and for the goddess (‘Queen of the Bedchamber’ -tirupalliyarainampirattiyatiyar)
whom she had set up. The whole of this 2 veli of land which we the
nakarattar of Colakeralapuram agreed to sell, Puventiyacola- manikkam bought
and donated as devadanam for the goddess.
I,
the accountant Mampakkamutaiyan Markantaiyan Civakkoluntan Catturukalamakalatittan,
sign this deed of sale that has been declared by these people. He who destroys
or seizes this charity will be as one who has sinned on the banks of the Ganges
and the shores of Kanyakumari; this inscription was engraved in A.D. 1119 at
the Manukulamahadeva temple in Salukki, North Arcot district.
These
inscriptions vary from AD 850- 1300, which gives a detailed idea about the life
and activities of the temple women. These inscriptions are engraved in the
stone walls of the temples, which majorly in South India, especially in Tamil
Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Religious and community wise Dedication
Not
only the dedication to Dancing girl prevails in Hindu customs, but also in
Muslim religion as well, but there aren’t much of a dedication prevails among
Muslims. Some Muslim community offers the girls to the ‘dargas’ and from then
onwards they will be called as ‘acchutis’. But today these customs are much
prevails when compared with Hinduism. Among the Hindu community most women are
from the lower classes such as scheduled caste and scheduled tribe. In India
the system mostly prevails in Karnataka followed by Maharashtra and Andhra
Pradesh.
In
the modern India, if we look, the women from the lower caste, such as that of
Dalits, untouchables are the ones who become devadasi and leads the life of a
prostitute, meanwhile, women from the higher caste are dedicated to Goddesses
and continue their life in temples by offering pooja to the deity and leads an
auspicious life. The Higher caste had the social and economic power in their
hands, and able to control the village and the village priest. In this view,
the temple priest was a mere puppet in the hands of powerful village land lords
and upper-class people. hence, it is also evident that, whenever the village
priest convinces the parents of the upcoming devadasis, they also spoke the
instructions which they received from the upper-class people as well. When the
girl attains puberty, another ceremony takes place, called Uditumbuvadu,
through which her dedication to the temple and God is complete. The next ritual
is, the priest marries the girl who dressed as bride wearing ceremonial red
dress. After the ceremony, she is forced to spent her night with the village
elder, who is a higher caste person, from that moment onwards she can’t refuse
the sexual service to any member of the village. Also, the priests have claim
towards every devadasi’s, since, anything offered to the God, belongs to them
as well.
Nowadays,
the upper caste people and the parents of the devadasi make a contract with
each other with help of a mediator who is presumably a senior devadasi. Prior
to the deflowering ceremony they come to an agreement by providing the girl
with dresses and jewels and to the family giving money. Traditionally it is
socially accepted the man who is deflowering her can maintain her and have
sexual relation as long as he likes.
The
Devadasis coming from the upper strata had their own advantages such as they
were not obliged to do any prostitution work and their rituals were often
dedicated to the God’s themselves as well as inside the temple only their work
was centered. Meanwhile the ones from the lower strata had to do the cleaning
works, decoration works in the temple, while they were avoided from the major
ritualistic activities. When the puja commences the women from the higher caste
has been given priorities to conduct the most of the ritualistic ceremonies
such as weaving of pot- lamp, singing songs to the deities such.
Dedication Ceremonies of Devadasi’s in Various regions
Initially, the girl comes to Devadasi
hold, through several ceremonies. At first, she is married to God, through Tali
tying ceremony. After attaining puberty, she is married to the priest and
later on given to the village upper caste people for sexual pleasure, but this
varies according to region. In some regions, the next step is ‘cadanku’
where the ceremony is performed under the supervision of village headsmen and
the priest. then the wedding ceremony and rites are performed which indicates
the girl’s union with God. During this ceremony he attains the status of ‘nityasumangali’,
whom is free from widowhood. Next step is that, devadasi could choose the
patron of her likings, in which they could be sexual partners without marrying.
These patrons were usually, brahmins and high caste non- brahmin landlords.
Still, they don’t have any right each other. The offspring of their union won’t
have any claim to the property of the father, because they are the children of
Devadasi only, not of fathers.
Apart
from these regular rituals, the girls are dedicated to the Gods, when they grow
thick hair which is called jat, a sign of godly call. They cannot marry
and spent their life in the within the four walls of the temple, and performs
various ritual and religious ceremonies to the temple and to God/ Goddesses as
a service. After they attain the status of devadasi, they are available to any
man who comes to the temple. There is condition for a devadasi to be selected
are several, such they have to have a perfect body, shouldn’t any kind of
effect or wounds. Only a devadasi could adopt a girl child into the devadasi
system. There are three methods for the adoption, such as;
1.
Datta- A girl child given away by her
parents to an older devadasi.
2.
Vikrita- A girl child sold to an older
devadasi.
3.
Bhrutta- A girl child born to an adopted
son of a devadasi to be trained as a devadasi.[43]
Parents used to give or sell a
daughter to a devadasi in any of three circumstances:
1.
the parents, or more usually the mother, may have made a vow to
Jagannatha to dedicate their daughter to his service. Such a vow is made
usually at the time of the illness of another child when Jagannatha is prayed
to cure the child
2.the parents being very poor and cannot
afford the expenses of marrying their daughter.
3.the mother of the girl being a widow and
finding herself pregnant, had been driven from her house or had left it.[44]
When it comes to kingdoms and royal
authorities, the devadasis bound to serve not only the village high caste
people but the kings and royal authorities as well. With this, they came to
have special privileges but still she remains available to other men as well.
Mainly the dedication ceremony takes place
on full moon day of Chaitra (March – April corresponding to the spring
season) or Magha (November – December), which are considered auspicious
periods.[45]
Only the priest, lords and her parents only attend the ceremony, after that she
takes bath and wears new white cloths, symbolizes her new condition as sacred
women. Then she goes to the temple with an offer to the deity. In the plate
there holds the necklace which she has to wear and is covered with a piece of
cloth. After reaching there the senior devadasi, helps her to wear it and
places a ring on her toes, which a devadasi should not remove it under any
circumstances. In Karnataka, there is popular belief that, when there occur any
events such as epidemic or drought, dedicating the girl to the village will
appease the local goddess Huligamma and help them. In Karnataka, the Devadasi
system is more prevalent in the districts of Dharwad, Belgaum/ Belagavi,
Bagalkot, Bijapur, Bellary, Bidar, Gulbarga, these were identified with more
devadasi dedication activities.[46]Apart
from them, other districts are Koppal, Shimoga, Raichur, Davanagere,
Chitradurga, Haveri, Yadgir, and Dharwad.
In
Andhra Pradesh, the girls are married to the god Potharaju. In the Shimoga
District of Karnataka, the girls are handed over to the goddess Renuka Devi,
and in Hospet, to the goddess Hulganga Devi. In the Vijapur district of
Karnataka, girls are given to the Monkey God (Hanuman, Maruti). Many girls in
Karnataka are dedicated to the goddess Yellamma. In Maharashtra the female
child is betrothed at birth to Khandoba.[47]
There are some practices behind this practice, that any such bad or evil could
be avoided if the family were willing to dedicate the girl to the Jogin.
According to the survey done in 1987- 88, there are Jogins/ Basavi’s present in
the districts of Andhra Pradesh, such as in Nellore- 284, Prakasam- 26,
Anantapur- 2686, Chittor- 544, Vizianagaram- 71, East Godavari- 1 and Kadapa-
1; among this 80 percent of persons belong to Scheduled caste.[48]apart
from them, the other districts in which Devadasi system exists are Karimnagar,
Warangal, Nizamabad, Mehaboobnagar, Kurnool, Medak, Adliabad, Rangareddy,
Nalagonda and Srikulam.[49]
In
Maharashtra, the poor deluded women promise to sacrifice their first-born
daughter if Khandoba will make them mothers of many children. Then after the
vow, the first-born girl is offered to Khandoba and set apart for Him by tying
a necklace of seven cowries around the little girl's neck. When she becomes of
marriageable age, she is formally married to Khandoba or dagger of Khandoba and
become His nominal wife. Hence forth she is forbidden to become the wedded wife
of any man. The parents of such girls do not feel ashamed to take her earnings.[50]In
Maharashtra, the practice of Dedication is prevalent only in the Maharashtra-
Karnataka border districts such as Kolhapur, Sangli, and Solapur; it is also
prevalent in some parts of Pune, Latur, Usmanabad, Satara, Singhuburg and
Nanded; in Mumbai the practice of dedication is not there but many of the
devadasis work in red right areas of Mumbai.[51]
Present
day studies found out that, dedication rituals are that of same as to marriage.
A Son of devadasi who is also working in an NGO for the past 15 years described
the dedication ceremony. He says that “A girl who is going to be dedicated
will be made to sit in front of the goddess. Four or five old devadasis will be
present to conduct the ceremony. The girl will be made to bathe and made to
wear green saree. The old devadasi will apply “Bandra” (a yellow colour powder
used to make religious mark in forehead. Then all devadasis will chant
“AkkyaJogva” which is the famous chanting of Yellamma, then the red and white
beads will be tied on the new girl by the old devadasis. The old devadasis will
tell all the rules and customs that should be followed by the new girl and give
blessing to become a good devadasi like them. Later food will be served to all.
The dedication ceremony will be completed only when the food is served. Then
the girls will be made to have intercourse with the upper- class men. The
family will spend roughly 10,000 to 15,000 for the dedication ceremony, if it
is a very poor family, they will just tie the beads and dedicate the girl”[52]
Dedication to Gods and Goddesses
Dedication
to deities differ from state to state. When we look into the whole structure
the dedication is high in Karnataka to the Goddesses Yellamma, Hulganga Devi,
Renuka Devi and in some places dedicated to Hanuman as well.
Followed by Maharashtra, where appears both male and female deities such as,
Kandboha and Thuljabhavani. In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the dedication is
mainly towards Mathamma, Potharaju and to Hanuman. The dedication is going like
this, the girl nearest to the temple, will become the devadasi of that
particular deity.
The
majority of the girls are from lower caste and economically unstable section.
So, in order to make some money the family (vast majority of times) dedicate
their daughter to the temple. Apart from poverty, there are other reasons as
well, like the number of daughters in the family increase, they dedicate their
daughter. Since the dedication ceremony is financed by the upper- caste wealthy
people, they don’t have to worry about the money instead they receive money
from them mainly during the time of ‘deflowering ceremony’, when a girl attains
puberty. The families receive a good sum of money regularly as well. It is also
possible that, most of the time the landowners and upper- caste men force the
family to make the girl a devadasi, so they can use them for prostitution
works. They were supported by the locals and old devadasis, so eventually the
families will agree and force them into prostitution in the name of devadasi.
The devadasis from the lower caste, were
used for the prostitution works and cleaning temple premises. The families of
Devadasis came forward for the dedication believing that, they will acquire a
good position in the society, which would indirectly help them to grow. But
they were neglected from doing the most important rituals in the temple. The
Devadasis were considered to be second most important person in the temple
after priests. So, to secure a position with God, they dedicate their children
to the service of temple. They were mostly appointed in the outside works of
temple, like the procession, where their presence is greatly valued, for
example, Devadasi from lower caste, accompanies the processions of goddess;
without her presence the procession does not make a move.[53]
Meanwhile the women of higher caste, maintained their relationship with the
palace authorities, such as that of king and ministers, and being dominant in
the society. They were placed in side the temple and done the dancing ritual of
the deity and maintained their purity across time. The devadasis seem to have
enjoyed an enviable social position in the past; a Devadasi was considered as
the very embodiment of the goddess to whom she was dedicated and during village
festival, before any one was served the feast (including the priests) the
Devadasis were served.[54]
Which indicates their presence was a must in every instance and how they were
valued in the society.
Religious festivals performed by Devadasis
In south India, there are two
important festivals for devadasis, which are Ankalamma Jatara and Huligamma
Jatara. During these days, they are expected to sing songs, fasting, etc. There
are different goddesses (considered as siblings of the goddess) with names such
as Maremma, Nijalingamma, Uchchengiyellamma, Kenchamma, Taayamma,
Renukayellamma, Nagamma, Gaalemma, who are similar to Huligamma. [55] they perform rituals in
temples as wells as in villages also on different days of the week. They have
to perform purification rituals like Deedinamaskara (rolling in the temple in
wet clothes holding a stick as a mokkubadi purification for illness in the
village). Such sentiments of religious and cultural significance accorded to
the Devadasis, binds them with a sense of loyalty, pride and obligation not only
to the rituals but to the obligation of bowing to the Devadasi custom despite
all hardships.[56]
“The
Devadasi system has many traditional beliefs. For example, if I go to a house
and someone gives me rice, money or other things I have to invoke god’s blessings
on them. Devadasis have to beg at the temples and houses”.
“In
my village there are around thirty Devadasi women, and all together we
celebrate "Dussehra" and "Ugadi". On every new moon and
full moon days I go begging in the streets. We Devadasis perform a puja on
every Tuesday and Friday for the goddess Huligemma. Sometimes Huligemma enters
my body and then answers all the questions of the village people. Then I can
see the goddess Huligemma with my very own eyes. Once a year there is the Jatara
of the goddess Huligemma. At this time, the goddess will possess the body of a
Devadasi and the male priests perform a puja. This Jatara continues for three
days with a grand celebration. On Hunnime (Full Moon Day), we always go to the
temple of the goddess Huligemma and we offer coconuts to her. I have a
"hadaligi", a small basket, in which I place a photo of the goddess,
some kumkuma, rice and green bangles. If there is some money with me, I offer
some bananas and coconuts. Sometimes, if we do not have any money, we just pray
to the goddess and light two incense sticks. She will protect us.” Then I carry
the basket around the village begging, but I do not like this because people
gossip about me that I am lazy and accuse me that I make money from begging and
by stealing husbands. I know this is the ritual but they still scold me. My
father wants me to go and beg and tells me that there will be bad luck for the
family if we do not beg, but I feel very shy to do this and I hate it. I go to
five different houses for begging and later I come back. When I was small, I
did not know what it means to be a Devadasi. But everyone in my village told
me: “You are Devadasi, so you have to do puja!” So, with time I accepted it,
that people address me as ‘Devadasi woman’.
“There
is Madiga temple-Basawangudi temple, other castes don’t come here, only Madigas-
The
Brahmin priests have a different role, whereas we Devadasis also perform pujas,
but it is different from the Brahmin priests. Mostly the pujas are performed
for the Madiga caste as Brahmin priests don’t perform rituals for Madiga death
rituals. They come only for birth, house warming where money is more-Devadasi
women are called to sing songs during birth ceremony, hair removal ceremony,
puberty, marriages, house warming and death”.
“When
the upper caste calls us to perform in their houses, we are made to stand
outdoors and sing the songs. We are given food and bangles from outside but not
allowed to enter their houses. Even when we go singing together during Gowri
festival from house to house we are made to stand outside the upper caste
houses and sing for the goodwill of their families”.[57]
When Casteism get intertwined with socio- economic
status
Belonging
to a lower caste is a kind of “prerequisite” to become a devadasi. From
the few studies that were carried out in South India, it results that almost
all devadasis belong to the Harijan (Untouchable) group.[58]in
order to understand the devadasi system completely one must understand between
the lower caste status and their function in the Indian society. Positioned at the bottom of India’s caste,
class, and gender hierarchies, largely uneducated and consistently paid less
than their male counterparts, lower caste women make up the majority of
landless laborers.[59]
A recent study on untouchability in rural India, covering
five hundred and sixty- five villages in eleven States, found that public
health workers refused to visit Dalit homes
in 33% of villages, and Dalit
children sat
separately while eating in 37.8% of government schools. Dalits were prevented from entering police
stations in 27.6% of villages, did not get mail delivered to their homes in
23.5% of villages, and were denied access to water sources in 48.4% of
villages.[60]
Political and women movements in India, usually neglect
the issues faced by the lower caste women at all time. According to the Humans
Right Watch, “Dalit women are at the bottom in our
community. Within the women's movement, Dalit issues have not been taken
seriously. Within the Dalit movement, women have been ignored. Caste, class,
and gender need to be looked at together. Dalit women have contributed to this
discourse... Women's labour is already undervalued; when she is a Dalit, it is
nil... The atrocities are also much more vulgar”.[61]
The upper castes play an important role for the formation
of devadasis, which has been confirmed by a scholar, Orchard, according to him,
‘the system of devadasi expresses the great social and economic
prominence of upper- class landowners, able to control the village priests. In
this view of the facts, the upper castes have influenced the establishment of
an order of prostitutes who are licensed to carry on their profession under the
protective shield of religion. The establishment of such a system facilitates
their access to low caste women to fulfill their sexual needs. In this light,
the temple priest has traditionally been a pawn in the hands of powerful upper
caste landlords. This hypothesis can be confirmed by the fact that often temple
priests, when trying to convince parents to consecrate their daughters to the
divinity, are carrying out the instructions of upper caste men who have bribed
them. It is possible that a person from a higher caste who fancies a lower
caste girl, may order the priest to say to an old devadasi to go into a
trance during a religious festival and indicate the name of that girl.’[62]
These
interpretations show, that the devadasis system is being control by the social
aspects of the upper caste over lower one is confirmed via the process of
devadasis where the lower caste was to be dedicated and follow up the ritual
ceremonies, mean- while the dedication from the upper caste is very short.
Devadasis in Karnataka
The
history of Devadasis in Karnataka can be traced back to the eight century and
reached its zenith during the 11th -12th century. During
the same time, the Jaina temples had started to appoint Devadasis for dancing
and singing. In 1070, a devadasi belonging to the Tripurantaka temple at
Balipura, received a gift of a plot of wet land from a Saiva priest, Trilochana
Pandita, who was in charge of the temple; the Pidariyar temple at Kolar had 24
dancing girls, and a dancing master was also appointed to keep the dancing
girls in proper training and they were allotted their allowance in rice and
money in the year 1071.[63]With
these, the Devadasi system was thoroughly established in Karnataka. In time,
they have spread whole over the area, and started to influence Brahmanism as
well, which is evident from, a record from Arsikere taluk in the Hasan district
mentions that all the brahmanas of the Madhusudaapura Agrahara, agreeing among
themselves, made a grant for the support of the dancing girls belonging to the
god Madhusudana[64].
The Devadasis were appointed in the temple on the basis of permanent and
hereditary basis. On this, they were allotted lands as grant from temple.
The
Devadasi tradition had begun to fade away during the Delhi Sultanate era and
Mughal period, but the revival happened with the Vijayanagar Empire. Where they
had tried to bring forth the authority of Devadasis. Most of the dedication
were happened with the consent of their parents, and dedicated their daughters
to the various Gods, such as Yellamma, Hulganga Devi,
Renuka Devi, and sometimes Hanuman also. But with
their degradation the Devadasi system had also began to fade away, and it
reached its climax under the British era.
In
northern Karnataka today, the devadasi system remains a culturally and
economically valued form of sex work, and approximately 1000- 10,000 young
girls are inducted into the system annually.[65]
Most of the devadasis in the northern Karnataka region, lives within their own
community, so that, they could discuss issues of their caste and profession
under the same roof. Some devadasis travel to larger rural centres to conduct dhandha
in small- scale brothels, which usually consist of 1-2 girls in a home
within an identifiable sex work area under the watch of a madam or gharwalli,
who customarily takes half of the girls’ earnings.[66]
Girls
become Devadasis through a dedication rite referred to in Kannada as ‘deva-
rige- bidu’ (to “leave/ give to the God”) or ‘muttu kattavadu’
(“trying the beads”), which connote the giving or marrying of girls to deities
as symbolized through the tying of beads.[67]
The reason for entering into the system varies from person to person, for some
it’s a rule, that one girl from a family should enter into the system, for some
it was because of poverty, for some it is beliefs, and for some it is for the
welfare of their families to help the ill person in the family with the belief
that god will bless them and take away the illness. Under the law these are
still illegal activities, so they take all this ritual process of making a
devadasi in underground so the outside world won’t notice. Meanwhile, the
priests will charge a good amount of charge for all these rituals. After the dedication
ceremony they will began to sell the girl for sexual works, which is named as
‘first client ceremony’. The male clients will give the families good and
materials for the deflowering ceremony.
The
once, renowned Devadasi custom, considered to be the sacred on ever, has been
declined and the dedication turned into degeneration of young girls and women
with the Britishers. Through which the temples income had prevented as well as
the Devadasis and soon in order to lead a life the Devadasi started to be
exploited by the rich. Also, they viewed as prostitutes by the modern era,
which wanted for the abolition of Devadasi custom, and slowly and steadily laws
came into play. With the establishment of laws to curb the Devadasi system, the
dedication was declined in a huge margin, which led to the freedom of most of
the women, attached to the temple. Even though the surveys and figures show
that, there are devadasis custom continuing in South India, even though the
number is much lesser than previous era, it still continues in closure temple
premises, and dedicated to their Gods, which had huge support by the village
authorities. Hence, the dedication is still going on, and the Government and
other Organisations are trying to prevent the dedication of women into temple
service, and trying to provide them with healthier life. Its not the
Government’s job alone to make their life better, but the societies as well,
the society needs to accept them, which is the most important method for the
Devadasis to come back to their lives for good.
[1]Harishankar, Dr. V. Bharathi and Dr. M Priyamvadh., op. cit.
30
[2]Harishankar, Dr. V. Bharathi and Dr. M Priyamvadh., op. cit.
30
[3]Nandi, R N. Religious Institutions and Cults in the
Deccan, A D 600- 1000. New Delhi: Motilal Banarasidas, 1973. English. p.
13
[4]Harishankar, Dr. V. Bharathi and Dr. M Priyamvadh., op. cit.
p. 31
[5]Nair, Janaki. "The Devadasi, Dharma and the State."
Economic and Political Weekly
(1994): 3157- 3167.English. p. 3159
[6]Sharma, R S. Problem of Transition from Ancient to
Medieval in Indian History. The Indian Historical Review, Vol. I, 1974.
English.
[7]Harishankar, Dr. V. Bharathi and Dr. M Priyamvadh., op. cit.
p. 249
[8]Harishankar, Dr. V. Bharathi and Dr. M Priyamvadh., op. cit.
p. 248
[9]Ayyar, C V N. Origin
and Early History of Saivism in South India. Madras: Cambridge
University Press, 1936. English. p. 166- 171
[10] Ibid. p. 153 and 315
[11]
Nandi, R N.
op. cit. p. 13
[12]The basavis are non- Brahmin women
dedicated to the God’s. The word basavi
is the feminine of basava, the
bull of Siva. According to C. Hayavadan Rao the term literally meaning the bull
carries with it the import of ‘procreator’. This name has been given because
she raises the progeny for the family.
[13]Jain, Simmi. Encyclopaedia
of Indian Women through the Ages, Vol. 2, The Middle ages. Delhi: Kalpaz
Publications, 2003., p. 133
[14] Jain,
Simmi. Op. cit. p. 159
[15]
Kersenboom, Saskia. Op. cit. p. 160
[16]
Kersenboom, Saskia. Op. cit. p. 161
[17]
Kersenboom, Saskia. Op. cit. p. 163-64
[18]
Kersenboom, Saskia. Op. cit. p. 164
[19]
Kersenboom, Saskia. Op. cit. p. 164- 165
[20]
Sharma, Manu.
"Divine Shadows: Indian Devadasis between past and present." Ruspini,
Elisabetta, Glenda Tibe Bonifacio and Consuelo Corradi. Women and Religion:
Contemporary and future challenges in the Global era. Great Britain: Policy
Press, University of Bristol, 2018. 79- 94. English. P. 82
[21]
Ibid. p. 82- 83
[22]
Kersenboom, Saskia. Op. cit. p. 195
[23]
Kersenboom, Saskia. Op. cit. p. 195
[24]
Kersenboom, Saskia. Op. cit. p. 196
[25]
Kersenboom, Saskia. Op. cit. p. 196
[26]
Kersenboom, Saskia. Op. cit. p. 196- 197
[27]
Kersenboom, Saskia. Op. cit. p. 197
[28]
Kersenboom, Saskia. Op. cit. p. 201
[29]
Fire- plates
[30]
Kersenboom, Saskia. Op. cit. p. 201
[31]
Kersenboom, Saskia. Op. cit. p. 276
[32]
Melukolupu is the ritualistic way of waking up a
God or Deity or royalty etc.
[33]
Kersenboom, Saskia. Op. cit. p. 208
[34]
Gupta, Sanjukta, Dirk Jan Hoens and Teun Goudriaan. Hindu
Tantrism. Leiden: Tuta Sub Aegide Pailas, 1979. English. P. 171
[35]
Land of demons
[36]
Kersenboom, Saskia. Op. cit. p. 209
[37] B, Jyotsna K. “Dancing Girls
(Devadasis) at the Temples with Special reference to the Jagannath Temple,
Puri, Orissa, India.” (n.d): 459-467. p. 462
[38] Ibid. p. 462
[39]
Marglin,
Frederique Apffel. Wives of the God- King: The rituals of the Devadasis of
Puri. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985. English. P. 172
[40] B, Jyotsna K. op. cit. p. 463
[41] Ibid. p. 463
[42] Ibid. p. 464
[43] B, Jyotsna., Op. cit. p. 461
[44] Ibid. p. 461
[45] Babar, Adv. Aniruddha V., Op.cit.
p. 4
[46]
Harishankar, Dr. V. Bharathi and Dr. M Priyamvadh. Op.
cit. p. 28- 29
[47] Pradeep,
Manjula. "Forced Prostitution in the name of God." (n.d.). English.
[48]
Harishankar, Dr. V. Bharathi and Dr. M Priyamvadh. Op.
cit. p. 182
[49]
Harishankar, Dr. V. Bharathi and Dr. M Priyamvadh. Op.
cit. p. 29
[50] Pradeep,
Manjula
[51]
Harishankar, Dr. V. Bharathi and Dr. M Priyamvadh. Op.
cit. p. 29
[52] Harishankar, Dr. V. Bharathi and Dr. M Priyamvadh., op.
cit. p. 93
[53]
Patil, B R.
op. cit. p. 387
[54]
Patil, B R.
op. cit. p. 387
[55]Trust, Sakhi and
Chaatri Trust. "Cast-'e'ing the Body- Devadasi Self Narratives."
December 2019. gaggaalliance,org.
English. 01 03 2021., p. 18
[56] Ibid. p. 19
[57]Ibid. p. 19
[58] Babar, Adv. Aniruddha V., Op.cit.
p. 4
[59]Torri, Maria
Costanza. "Abuse of Lower Castes in South India: the Institution of
Devadasi." Journal of
International Women's Studies (2009): 31- 48. English. p. 38
[60]Untouchability
and Violence against Dalilts- Asia- Pacific Human rights information center,
available at Untouchability and Violence against Dalits | ヒューライツ大阪 (hurights.or.jp)
accessed on 03-03-2021
[61] Attack on Dalit Women- Human
Rights Watch, available at Attacks on Dalit
Women: A Pattern of Impunity - Broken People: Caste Violence Against India’s
“Untouchables” (Human Rights Watch Report, 1999) (hrw.org) accessed on 04/03/2021
[62]Babar, Adv.
Anirudda V. op. cit., p. 3
[63]
Prasad, Awadh
Kishore. "Devadasis in Karnataka." Proceedings of the Indian
History Congress, 1983, Vol. 44 (1983): 149- 153. English. P. 150
[64]
Ibid. p. 150
[65]Orchard,
Treena Rae. "Girl, woman, lover, mother: Towards a new understanding of
child prostitution among young Devadasis in rural Karnataka, India." Social Science and Medicine (2007):
2379- 2390. English. p. 2381
[66] Ibid. p. 2381
[67] Ibid. p. 2381
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