From Sacred Servant to Profane Prostitute: A History of the Changing Legal Status of the Devadasis in India 1857-1947

From Sacred Servant to Profane Prostitute discusses the devadasi reform movement as a window on changing social, religious, and political values in India between 1857 and 1947. The devadasis were women married to Hindu deities for whom they danced and sang. They frequently became the concubines of either wealthy landholders or brahmins at a time when such behaviour was socially acceptable in India. For centuries, Hindus regarded the devadasis as sacred servants of Hindu deities, but by the mid-nineteenth century the British and the Indian Westernized elite considered them to be prostitutes. This study of court cases, executive correspondence, and legislation traces the shift in the official attitude toward the devadasis. Initially, colonial courts recognized the customary law of the devadasis which included female ownership of property, adoption of daughters, and inheritance from mother to daughter.