... Temple dancers called devadasis (“servants of god”) have emulated him for thousands of years. ... She is an all-important female deity in the Hindu tradition. Several myths suggest that it is this goddess to which the devadasis primarily serve due to her abilities to maintain the creation and cosmic order on the world. ... # It is this act of puja and total devotion of one’s life for the worshiping of the gods that characterize the devadasis of the Hindu culture as followers of the bhakti path.
In order to gain an understanding of the devadasi tradition, one must first become familiar with the origin from which this movement began. The Tantra movement in both Buddhism and Hindu cultures was considered a way to activate and utilize bioenergy for the expressed purpose of spiritual advancement, or enlightenment. ...
Initially, the devadasi tradition had no sexual sub-text. Females who were initiated as devadasis were originally from families of high status. ... This created a conflict with the kings of the land who claimed that they had territorial rights over the devadasis. ... The kings claimed that since they were the lords of the land and the ones who appointed the devadasis to the temples that they had the first right to the women. The debate was resolved by the branding of emblems on the chests of the devadasis. ... High officials and rich traders bought rights to the devadasis. ... The devadasis were often referred to as “servants of god, but wives of the whole town.” Higher caste families discontinued sending their daughters into the devadasis culture. ... For the rest of her life as a devadasis, the female was to live in the temple and beg for her food. ...
Devadasis led a life of complete devotion to the gods. Society felt, that since the demands of a female family member, daughter, wife or mother were too consuming, only someone unmarried could commit the time and energy needed to carry out the devadasi tradition. The devadasis received an excellent education as they were trained in all arts: dance, rhythm and music, ritual and mediation, reading, writing, philosophy, religion and mythology. ... Devadasis were not only considered slaves to their gods but they also were to be open to the embraces of men from all levels of society who could afford their favors.
The dance of the devadasis was considered to be a form of lovemaking to the gods. ... One such festival in which the devadasis would part take in is the Durga Puja. ... Other forms of puja in which the devadasis showed devotion to their gods include darshana, mutual visual contact with deity images; pranama, bowing before the images as a sign of obedience; snapana, the bathing of a deity image; and lila, the reenactment of the life of a deity through dancing.
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