Nityasumangali: Devadasi Tradition in South India

The phenomenon of the devadasi has suffered greatly from faulty, culture-bound evaluations. The present monograph does not aim at judging these earlier evaluations, nor does it claim to give a ‘truly objective’ description of what the devadasi tradition was; it rather tries to follow the inherent mode of thought, namely, what the devadasi tradition meant within the frame of Hinduism, and its transformation into a living cultural phenomenon functioning significantly in the context of the Hindu tradition. In this attempt the author has first investigated the concept of the devadasi as found in the cultural history of South India, especially of Tamilnadu. Hereafter the function and form of the devadasi tradition are examined within the Temple Ritual of Tamilnadu. Data from Sanskrit Agamas, commentaries, Tamil sources, informants’ accounts and from the actual repertoire of the devadasis have been woven into a coherent structure. Finally, it is the devadasi herself, as a ritual person, who is the most significant marker of her tradition. The rites of passage that transform an ordinary girl into a devadasi, her wedding and artistic training and her funeral honours are described in the last chapter. In short, this is not the study of the fact of the devadasi tradition, but of its meaning and the mode of production of that meaning.