The inscriptions in the temple of Tiruvakkarai point to the existence of Devdasis in the temple, as was the custom in many Hindu temples. According to Dr. Padma Subramaniam, the oldest reference to temple Devdasis occurs in Rajtarangini, the history of Kashmir written by Kalhan, which mentions the existence of Devdasis in the Sun Temple at Martand in 6th century AD. Kalhan mentions king Aditya Varma's visit to the Sun Temple where he was welcomed by the Devdasis.

The custom of offering women to the temple to serve the lord as temple servants, musicians and dancers has been prevalent in all major temples in South India including the temple of Nataraja at Chidambaram, Suchindram temple in Cape Comerin, the temple of Muruga at Viralimalai and the Temple of Kapaleeshwara at Mylapore. All major temples in Tanjavur including Brahadeeshwara temple had Devdasis.

The custom is also known to exist outside Tamil Nadu. Devdasis were connected very closely with the famed temple of Lord Jagannatha at Puri. I have personally met both the last surviving Devdasi of Jagannath temple and the Chidambaram temple, only a few years ago, when they were invited to visit the Natayanjali festival at Chidambaram. They were honoured before the august gathering and presented with a small purse of money. We wanted to show the eighty-year-old woman that the dance had been brought back to the temples. The Devdasi from Puri was old and frail yet performed for us a small piece, which she used to perform, nearly sixty-five years ago, in front of Lord Jagannath. It is interesting that even though temple dancing had been banned in the temple of Jagannath, she was still continuing to be on the rolls of the temple. It was because there is a tradition that the devdasi has to perform certain rituals on the day of the annual festival. 

Essentially, great musicians and dancers, Devdasis enjoyed a good status in society as artists, performers and as temple employees. They had the right to possess and dispose off property. Many of them married and had children. Some lived, independently in a monogamous relationship with a respectable member of society. Their children served as commanders for the Chola kings. They donated gold, silver and land to the temples and built new temples and shrines. They were held in great esteem. The kings conferred titles on them in recognition of their art. 

They fell on bad times after the 18th century Muslim invasions on the temples. This led to many temples being closed for considerable periods of time, which resulted in the loss of patronage for Devdasis. With the dwindling power of the kings many of them used Devdasis to get favours from the white man. All this finally led to the Devdasis getting a bad name and being treated like prostitutes by society. Eventually, amidst much hue and cry their services were disbanded from the temple. The British Government abolished the system as recently as 1935 after which date dancing of all types was banned in the temples.

This gave a great setback to temple arts specially, the dance. In fact Bharat Natayam would have been all but forgotten but for the efforts of Rukmini Devi Arundale, who revived the dance heritage of India specially, the Bharat Natyam. She started first school of Bharat Natayam in Madras, while braving opposition from the orthodox south Indian community. She started at Theosophical Society, under the Banyan tree, with three students. Today, she is no more but her school is known as 'Kalakshetra' and has become a deemed university. The students around the globe come here to learn Indian dance and music. Love of dance was first created in the heart of Rukmini Devi Arundale by the legendary dancer, Anna Pavalova. 

Rukmini Devi learnt dance from Anna Pavalova on a cruise ship, in which Rukmini Devi was traveling to England after her marriage to Arundale. Anna Pavalova, a great ballerina and the greatest dancer of her times, was happy to teach dance to a fourteen-year-old, nimble footed Indian girl, for whom she developed a liking on the ship. She also inspired her to examine the dance traditions of India. After her return to India, Rukmini Devi tried to locate the remaining Devdasis and examined their art. She not only learnt dance from them but also collected all the dance related information on music, compositions, costumes, ornaments, and arts & crafts which helped her create a great institution and become the saviour of an art which might have been wiped out otherwise.

C K Gariyali IAS
Source : chennaionline