The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c6.78

c6.78

The cultivation of the fine arts also declined during this period. Music teachers were usually men not very famous for high character, and Hindu families were not rich enough to engage them. By the beginning of the 19th century singing, dancing and writing were regarded as achievements fit only for the class of dancing girls. Ladies of orthodox families would have been shocked if a report had spread that they were acquainted with any of the above mentioned arts. Hindu women during the last millennium were usually unlettered, but they could not be described as uncultured. In fact, books being rare and costly, traditional wisdom and culture could be learnt more easily from the lips of a preacher than from the pages of a manuscript. Every village had its own religious teacher (*purāṇika*), whose vernacular discourses on religion, philosophy and culture were listened to with wrapt attention by all the matrons of the village. Though unlettered, they thus became better and more faithful custodians of ancient traditions and culture than even literate men.