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A Devadasi is a Hindu temple priestess who performs ritualistic dances and songs, primarily to please the gods in a temple's "Sanctum Sanctorum" (inner sanctum), but also to help the temple worshippers elevate their consciousness. (Compare with the Greek catharsis.)
The modern forms of "sadir" (the devadasi's art) are the Bharata Natyam and Odissi dance styles.
Although it has largely degraded to a popular entertainment form like ballet, some of the contemporary virtuosos like Medha Hari still present it as a sacred worship that is deeply meaningful rather than merely entertaining.
Devadasis practise in South India. Their colleagues in the Indian state of Orissa are called maharis.
The Devadasi system and religious prostitution
The Devadasi system of South India is one of Religious prostitution. Women who belong to a certain lower caste will be labelled Devadasis. When a girl attains puberty, she will be offered to a Hindu temple. In the temple, she will work as a prostitute to earn money for the temple (this is also called service to god). Offering girls to the temple is usually accompanied by ceremonies in which the girl will wear white or transparent cloths, will take a holy bath, and will be offered in her wet, semi-naked state to the god.
Usually, the temple priest will first have sex with the girl, after which she will be used as a prostitute. When the girl grows older, she will sometimes be sold to a man as a concubine / servant / slave.
Since 1988, the practice has been illegal. Regardless, it is still practiced in a few villages, especially in the province of Andhra Pradesh.
External links
- Devadasi (http://skepdic.com/devadasi.html)
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