Caste system in India was a profession-based stratification of the society. Music in ancient India was performed by certain castes associated with the Hindu temple, the erstwhile social and religious powerhouse of pre-colonial India. Devadasis were women who were wedded to God. Their lives were wedded to art rather. They lived, performed and busied themselves with worship of art and the workings of the temple. Ironically, as we mourn the lack of women composers in Indian music, the perpetuators of music in ancient India were women. If one takes a look at the gender classifications to words and things - all things artistic, creative and fertile have been labeled feminine. The earth is a her. A river is a her. All things that ‘engender’ were called the women gender! It comes as no surprise that the Hindus have a Goddess of art- Saraswati. Also, the Devadasi system was a social experiment, solely meant to foster art. It gave the artist a life that could entail thorough artistic immersion without the infringements of Victorian morality. They were wedded to God, most of them had live-in relationships or had life-long companions or had many companions throughout their life. This represents a time in Hindu liberalism that did not have the quasi-Victorian stand on monogamy, but speaks of a liberal society ok with experimenting away from the institution of marriage alone. To everyone his own. For the normal woman, a family and monogamy- then so be it. If living the life of an artist requires you to live away from the normal, so be it. The best part was, there was no ‘prescriptions’ or insistence on ‘the only way to live. Everybody to his own and the artist to his very own space and lifestyle- that must have been the idea behind this societal experiment. Also, set in a profession-based caste system, the idea of a musical caste was not an anomaly. In the name of neo- social reform by Victorian mandate, the Devadasi system was abolished in colonial India. The English could not understand the liberal ideas that existed when they came here to rule India. It seemed very fashionable to discuss the barbaric nature of such a sytem in British Parlor, while the English quietly afforded mistresses for themselves. In true English hypocrisy and the stiff upper lip, the ‘problem’ was sold as a human rights issue, rather a bloated feminist issue. Some senseless Indians, remarkably some Indian women also joined hands to splash more colonial mud into already muddied representation of Indian history. Out of a job, the Devadasis turned prostitutes, the only thing they had was their bodies! This further strengthened the argument as to how the abolition was such an altruistic act on part of the English. And it fit perfectly well into this white-skin ruling dark-skinned idiots and ameliorating their ‘tribal’ ‘crude’ practices. Remember, that the English were not interested in rehabilitating these women or anything of that sort, they were not in India for true governance. Stripped of its perpetuators, Indian art took a hit. The Brahmins long known for their adulation of knowledge and Vedas, took the baby out of muddy waters and re-packaged it. For the major part of the century till today, the Brahmin middle-class has fostered Indian music. Like with everything, the art was modeled to the aesthetic palate of Brahmins. Erotic, lewd and anything PG-13 was slowly edged out. The rigorously religious Brahmin mind garmented the music with some really canny religious poetry, infused with elements from Vedas, Upanishads, mythology, epics, history and alike. To the point that, there is almost a Brahmin hegemony in classical arts in South India today. It is often pointed out that the Brahmins are stifling Indian art, while they took an orphaned child into their hands. Suddenly, they are blamed for being socially conscious! The wheel of blame and social change continues….

For all those who want an honest look at Devadasis, this is a must read:

Devadasis: Sinners or sinned against

A wealth of information and pictures about Devadasis is available at:

Kamat’s Potpourri