ABOUT THE BOOK

This book traces the gradual transition of the devadasi system from the early medieval to the modern society from sacred to profane spaces. In early medieval period these were women with a lot of wealth and standing dedicated to temples. The intervention of the colonial power introduced new economic patterns that influenced new kinds of social structure. The nation building process of the 19 century C.E. was largely constructed on female sexuality that brought concepts such as 'social purity', 'good women', and 'motherhood' to the forefront. This further weakened the social acceptance of the devadasi women. In the early 20 century C.E., devadasi lost both their social and economic base and became common prostitutes and eventually the devadasi institution faded away. This study uses qualitative methods, especially the methodologies of History and Gender Studies. Besides archival research, this research also carried out unstructured interviews with the last surviving devadasis. This book would be a very valuable resource for students and researchers of History, Women's history, Women's studies and Religion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

S. Jeevanandam is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History, in Sikkim University. He has earlier worked in the Department of History at Assam University, Silchar. He was awarded Shri Justice P Rajagopalan Endowment Medal, The Governor Chancellor's Centenary Prize and Thiru T.V. Anantha Rama Sharma Endowment Prize in his M.A for his academic excellence. He has published research papers on devadasi, temple institution and cultural history of South India in different academic journals and proceedings.

Rekha Pande is the Head of the Department of History and a Joint Faculty in the Centre for Women's Studies at the University of Hyderabad. India. She has been the Founding Director of two Centres for Women's Studies, one at Maulana Azad National Urdu University and the other at the University of Hyderabad. She has to her credit ten books and more than 200 articles in various books and in national and International Journals. She has been the Editor of, International Feminist Journal of Politics (IFJP), Routledge Taylor and Francis group, U.K. and Foreign Policy Analysis, Blackwell, USA. She received the International Visiting Fellowshipin the School of Policy Studies, in the University of Bristol, U.K. Academic Fellow, University of Buffalo, USA , International Visiting Scholar, at Maison De Research, Paris and Visiting Professorship at the University of Artois, Arras, France. She has widely traveled in India and abroad to deliver Key note addresses and lectures and present papers in National and International Conferences

CONTENTS

Preface 7
Acknowledgements  9
Abbreviations  11
1. Introduction  13
2. Pre-Colonial South India: - The Historical Context  51
3. Emergence and Growth of the Devadasi System: -Pre-Colonial Period 77
4. The Devadasi System: - The Colonial Period 109
5. The Twentieth century Debate on Devadasi System 153
6. The Life Stories of Some Selected Devadasis of South India 209
7. Conclusion 249
Bibliography 263
Appendices 303
Index 317