Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Hinduism A girl that underwent
Hindu religiouspractice in which they would be "married" to a deity. In addition to taking care of the temple, she learned and practicedBharatanatyam and other classical Indian arts traditions, and enjoyed a high social status.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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In the past, the marriage of a devadasi, that is a girl born to that group (usually out of a relationship with Brahmin servitors, royal family members or upper caste men) or adopted into it and dedicated pre-puberty to temple service, could take place only with special permission from the king which happened infrequently.
The Times of India 2010
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Gripping but depressing film, in which Beeban Kidron – director of Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit and one Bridget Jones film, among much else – visits India to illuminate the illegal but still practised cult of the devadasi.
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Shrouded, like so much abuse of children, in holy gibberish, devadasi is essentially a legitimised system of trading girls as indentured concubines.
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A devadasi (a prostitute and devotee of the goddess Yellamma) laments her life as a sex worker but revels in the worship of a female deity who has come to mean more to her than her own mother.
William Dalrymple's "Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India" 2010
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There is a lot of similarity to be seen with the devadasi tradition in South India – from this article: ...
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But for every Saroja who will be married at 13 because her mother, a devadasi (prostitute) in Chikanahalli Village, Karnataka, cannot afford to pay a dowry, there is a Lakshmi, who is serving her second-term as the panchayat leader of Kadinamala village in Kotagiri district.
What Is the Role of Women in Indian Politics? Growing Stronger... 2009
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At her dedication ceremony, she had no idea what being a devadasi meant.
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"The upper castes wouldn't drink from the same glass as a devadasi -- but they make use of her body."
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The Sisters of the Good Shepherd have been fighting devadasi practices there for 20 years.
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The government has stepped up efforts to wipe out the devadasi tradition, too.
elfflame commented on the word devadasi
n. (pl. -sis) a hereditary femal dancer and courtesan in a Hindu temple.
Origin from Sanskrit devadasi, literally 'female servant of a god.'
April 26, 2020