Living History, Performing Memory

Devadāsī Women in Telugu-Speaking South India

Dados Bibliográficos

ID7097271
AutoresDavesh Soneji (autor correspondente)
Ano2004
Volume36
Fascículo2
Páginas30-49
Data de publicação2004-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoDance Research Journal (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0149-7677 • E-ISSN: 1940-509X
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/20444590
OpenAlexW2325322517
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas6
Referências citadas6

Ballipadu is a small village in the West Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh, South India. One of the most prominent markers in the village landscape is the Madanagopālasvāmi temple (Fig. 1). Pemmaraju Konayamatya constructed the temple sometime in the late eighteenth century (exact dates unknown). The central image in the temple is that of Kṛṣṇa as Madanagopālasvāmi, The Cowherd Beautiful as the God of Desire (Fig. 2). From the time of its consecration, the Ballipadu Madanagopālasvāmi temple had supported over fifteen devadāsīs (women artists who served in temples and/or courts) by providing them with tax-free land, money, and a platform to present their art. In return, some of the women performed ritual tasks such as the waving of the fiveflames ( pañca-hārati ) and the pot lamp ( kumbha-hārati ), as ritual duties in the temple. In 1948, at the end of a long struggle with the discursive contours of social reform, five women—Manikyam, Anusuya, Varahalu, Seshachalam and Maithili—were expelled from the temple. These five women from Ballipadu subsequently moved to the small town of Duwa, where they maintain a small matrifocal home, adhering to their traditional patterns of kinship as devadāsīs . They do not ostensibly retain any markers of devadāsī identity: they no longer sing or dance in public, have any ritual duties in temples, receive tax-free land (mãnyãlu) from temples or feudal kingdoms ( zamīndāri samasthānas ), and bless homes during auspicious occasions. Yet, they insist on referring to themselves as devadāsīs , despite the extreme social stigma attached to this identity

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Consecration · Dance · Feudalism · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Telugu · Visual arts · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Gender Studies · History · Law · Philosophy · South Asian Studies and Conflicts · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies