Devadasi
देवदासीSanskritSay it: de · va · daa · see
- aa ee oo ē ō — long vowels: hold them twice as long
Women dedicated to temple service, hereditary keepers of dance
ConceptBharatanatyamOdissi
Meaning
Devadasis were women dedicated to a temple deity, serving in ritual and trained in music and dance; for centuries they were the hereditary keepers of the art that became Bharatanatyam. Dedication was outlawed in the Madras Presidency in 1947, and the dance passed largely into new hands. How that change is judged — reform, revival or erasure of a community — is still debated.
Also written: devadasis, devaradiyar, thevaradiyar