History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c44.53

v3.c44.53

The practice of attaching dancing girls to temples is of respectable antiquity. The origin of this practice appears to be analogous to the institution of Vestal virgins in Rome. The Rājatarangiṇī (IV. 269) speaks of two dancing girls attached to a temple (devagṛhāśrite nartakyau) who danced and sang at a place as it was the custom of their family, though the temple itself was buried underground. In the Vaghli (Khandesh District) stone Inscription dated śake 991 (1069-70 A. D.) there is a grant of Govindarāja making provision for dancing and singing by damsels²⁰⁹⁵ (*vilāsinī*). In the Inscription of the Cāhamāna king Jojaladeva dated *saṁvat* 1147 (1090-91 A. D.) the courtezans of all temples are said to have been ordered to come in their best dress and celebrate a festival with music (E. I. vol. XI. 26 and 27) and the king records an imprecation against all who might stop that practice. The Iṭṭagi (20 miles east of Gadag) inscription dated 1112 A. D. records (E. I. vol. XIII. p. 58) that a brāhmaṇa named Mahādeva donated houses for the retinue of dancing girls and other attendants of the gods at Iṭṭagi. This practice of *devadāsīs* (minor girls dedicated to the service of temples) or *bhāvins* (which term is known in the southern parts of the Ratnagiri district) was held by the modern Indian Courts to be immoral and whoever disposes of any person under the age of 18 years (or obtains possession of any person) with intent that such person shall at any age be employed or used for the purpose of prostitution or illicit intercourse with any person or with knowledge that the person is likely to be employed or used for any such purpose at any age is liable to be prosecuted under Sec. 372 and 373 of the Indian Penal Code (as amended by Act 18 of 1924).²⁰⁹⁶ In Bombay there is the Bombay Devadasis Protection Act (Bombay Act X. of 1934) which declares the performance of ceremonies for dedicating an unmarried woman to an idol or temple illegal and renders the dedicator or abettor thereof liable to punishment (one year's imprisonment or fine or both).