The World of Courtesans c12.92

c12.92

A vivid though rather misleading feature of the *devadasi* system in thirteenth century Malabar is given by Marco Polo. He observes, "They have certain abbeys in which are gods and goddesses to whom many young girls are consecrated; their fathers and mothers presenting them to that idol for which they entertain the greatest devotion. And when the [monks] of a convent desire to make a feast to their god, they send for all those consecrated damsels and make them sing and dance before the idol with great festivity. They also bring meats to feed their idol withal; that is to say, the damsels prepare dishes of meat and other good things and put the food before the idol, and leave it there a good while, and then the damsels all go to their dancing and singing and festivity for about as long as a great Baron might require to eat his dinner By that time they say the spirit of the idols has consumed the substance of the food so they remove the viands to be eaten by themselves with great jollity. This is performed by these damsels several times every year until they are married."