Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c9.s4.58

c9.s4.58

It was at annual meetings like this that the Licchavis honoured their elected courtesan Ambapālī.³ This surprising ceremony of electing the most beautiful woman to be the wife of the whole republic must have taken place during the week of the spring season festivities. The length of her career suggests that she was appointed for life. The *Cīvaravastu*⁴ and the Tibetan *Dulva* preserve the interesting tradition as to how she became a courtesan. From a Kadali tree in an *āmra* grove of Mahānāman, a Licchavi of Vesālī "was born a girl, lovely to look upon, perfect in all parts of her body, and he (Mahānāman) called her name Āmrapālī (Amra Skyong-ma). When she was grown up, as there was a law at Vaiśālī by which a perfect woman was not allowed to marry, but was reserved for the pleasures of the people, she became a courtesan."⁵