Introduction

The term Devadasi is a Sanskrit word, which literally translates to ‘female slave of God’. Devadasi practice arises out of a crossroads of religion, poverty, gender stereotypes and social norms. This chapter aims to understand the origin and growth of the Devadasi system and highlight the present status of Devadasis in Indian society. It also envisages the exploitation of women in the name of religious tradition. In contemporary times, for various socio-historical reasons, the Devadasi tradition appears to have lost its status and is equated synonymously with prostitution and slavery in India. Devadasi practice is today a challenge to both the government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Devadasi means a woman who performs the service for some deity in a temple: unmarried temple servants who had been dedicated to temple deities as young girls through rites resembling Hindu marriage ceremonies (Parker, 1998). To be a Devadasi is one of the services rendered by women in Hindu society; a woman readily marries a deity and serves him in the temple. Devadasis were an essential part of Indian temples. They performed regular functions at temples such as cleaning of temples, lighting lamps, dressing the deities and so on. They sang devotional songs and danced in devotion to the deities. They taught music and dance to girls. They kept alive and developed a tradition of classical music and dance. They lived in quasi-matrilineal communities, had non-conjugal sexual relationships with uppercaste men, and were literate when most South Indian women were not. Beyond these historical facts is a vast area of myths and false propaganda. Devadasis were meant to please the eyes of the Lord alone but their dancing unintentionally became a source of entertainment and attraction for the folk who happened to witness their swirl in worship. Essentially and originally during the period between the 10th and 11th centuries CE, when the system reached its pinnacle, a tumultuous erosion of its virtuous position took place, making the position of Devadasis vulnerable and docile. Presently, Devadasis are no longer considered historical temple dancers, and many of them belong to the low-caste Dalit (oppressed caste) section of society.