Part 11

"In the Canarese (or western) taluks of Bellary, and in the adjoining parts of Dharwar and Mysore, a curious custom obtains among the Boyas, Bedarus, and certain other castes, under which a family which has no male issue must dedicate one of its daughters as a Basavi. The girl is taken to a temple, and married there to the god, a tali and toe-rings being put on her, and thenceforward she becomes a public woman, except that she does not consort with any one of lower caste than herself. She is not, however, despised on this account, and indeed at weddings she prepares the tali (perhaps because she can never be a widow). Contrary to all Hindu Law, she shares in the family property as though she was a son, but her right to do so has not yet been confirmed by the Civil Courts. If she has a son, he takes her father's name, but if only a daughter, that daughter again becomes a Basavi. The children of Basavis marry within their own caste, without restrictions of any kind.

"In Malabar there is no regular community of dancing-girls; nor is there among the Mussalmans of any part of the Presidency."

"No doubt," Monier Williams writes, [58] "Dasis drive a profitable trade under the sanction of religion, and some courtesans have been known to amass enormous fortunes. Nor do they think it inconsistent with their method of making money to spend it in works of piety. Here and there Indian bridges and other useful public works owe their existence to the liberality of the frail sisterhood." The large tank (lake) at Channarayapatna in Mysore was built by two dancing-girls.

In the Travancore Census Report, 1901, the Dasis of the Coromandel coast are compared, in the words of a Sanskrit poet, to walking flesh-trees bearing golden fruits. The observant Abbé Dubois noticed that, of all the women in India, it is especially the courtesans who are the most decently clothed, as experience has taught them that for a woman to display her charms damps sensual ardour instead of exciting it, and that the imagination is more easily captivated than the eye.

It was noticed by Lord Dufferin, on the occasion of a Viceregal visit to Madura, that the front part of the dress of the dancing-girls hangs in petticoats, but the back is only trousers.

The Rev. A. Margöschis writes in connection with the practice of dilating the lobes of the ears in Tinnevelly, that, as it was once the fashion and a mark of respectability to have long ears, so now the converse is true. Until a few years ago, if a woman had short ears, she was asked if she was a Deva-dasi, because that class kept their ears natural. Now, with the change of customs all round, even dancing-girls are found with long ears. "The dancing-girls are," the Rev. M. Phillips writes, [59] "the most accomplished women among the Hindus. They read, write, sing and play as well as dance. Hence one of the great objections urged at first against the education of girls was 'We don't want our daughters to become dancing-girls'."

It is on record [60] that, in 1791, the Nabob of the Carnatic dined with the Governor of Madras, and that, after dinner, they were diverted with the dancing wenches, and the Nabob was presented with cordial waters, French brandy and embroidered China quilts. The story is told of a Governor of Madras in more recent times, who, ignorant of the inverse method of beckoning to a person to advance or retreat in the East, was scandalised when a nautch girl advanced rapidly, till he thought she was going to sit in his lap. At a nautch in the fort of the Mandasa Zemindar in honour of Sir M. E. Grant Duff, [61] the dancing-girls danced to the air of Malbrook se va t'en guerre. Bussy taught it to the dancing-girls, and they to their neighbours. In the Vizagapatam and Godavari jungles, natives apostrophise tigers as Bussy. Whether the name is connected with Bussy I know not.

Of Deva-dasis at the Court of Tippoo Sultan, the following account was published in 1801. [62] "Comme Souverain d'une partie du Visapour, Tippoo-Saïb jouissoit de la facilité d'avoir parmi ses bayadères celles qui étoient les plus renommées par leurs talens, leurs graces, leur beauté, etc. Ces bayadères sont des danseuses supérieures dans leur genre; tout danse et tout joue en même-tems chez elles; leur tête, leurs yeux, leurs bras, leurs pieds, tout leur corps, semblent ne se mouvoir que from enchanter; elles sont d'une incroyable légèreté, et ont le jarret aussi fort que souple; leur taille est des plus sveltes et des plus élégantes, et elles n'ont pas un mouvement qui ne soit une grace. La plus âgée de ces femmes n'avoit pas plus de seize à dix-sept ans. Aussi tot qu'elles atteignoient cet âge, on les réformoit, et alors elles alloient courir les provinces, on s'attachoient à des pagodes, dans lesqueles elles étoient entretenues, et ou leurs charmes étoient un des meilleurs revenus des brames."

General Burton narrates [63] how a civilian of the old school built a house at Bhavani, and established a corps de ballet, i.e., a set of nautch girls, whose accomplishments actually extended to singing God save the King, and this was kept up by their descendants, so that, when he visited the place in 1852, he was "greeted by the whole party, bedizened in all their finery, and squalling the national anthem as if they understood it, which they did not." With this may be contrasted a circular from a modern European official, which states that "during my jamabandy (land revenue settlement) tour, people have sometimes been kind enough to arrange singing or dancing parties, and, as it would have been discourteous to decline to attend what had cost money to arrange, I have accepted the compliment in the spirit in which it was offered. I should, however, be glad if you would let it be generally known that I am entirely in accord with what is known as the anti-nautch movement in regard to such performances."

It was unanimously decided, in 1905, by the Executive Committee of the Prince and Princess of Wales' reception fund, that there should be no performance by nautch girls at the entertainment to be given to Their Royal Highnesses at Madras.

In a note on Basavis, the Collector of the Bellary district writes that "it is usual among Hindus to dedicate a bull for public use on the death of a member of their family. These are the breeding bulls of the village flock. Similarly, cows are dedicated, and are called Basavis. No stigma attaches to Basavis or their children, and they are received on terms of equality by other members of their caste. The origin of the institution, it has been suggested, may probably be traced to the time when the Boyas, and other castes which dedicate Basavis, were soldiers, and the Basavis acted as camp-followers and nurses of the wounded in battle. According to Hindu custom, the wives of the men could not be taken from their homes, and, other women of the caste being required to attend to their comforts, the institution of Basavis might have been started; or, if they existed before then as religious devotees attached to temples, they might have been pressed into their service, and the number added to as occasion required. In Narayandevarkeri there are many Boyas and many Basavis. On the car-festival day, the Boyas cannot take meals until the car is taken back to its original place after the procession. Sometimes, owing to some accident, this cannot be done the same day, and the car-drawing Boyas sleep near the car, and do not go to their houses. Then it is their Basavis who bring them food, and not their wives." At Adoni I have seen a Basavi, who was working at a cotton press for a daily wage of three annas, in full dress on a holiday in honour of a local deity, wearing an elaborately chased silver waist belt and abundant silver jewelry. The following are examples of petitions presented to a European Magistrate and Superintendent of Police by girls who are about to become Basavis:--

Petition of __________ aged about 17 or 18.

I have agreed to become a Basavi, and get myself stamped by my guru (priest) according to the custom of my caste. I request that my proper age, which entitles me to be stamped, may be personally ascertained, and permission granted to be stamped.

The stamping refers to branding with the emblems of the chank and chakram.

Petition of _____ wife of _____.

I have got two daughters, aged 15 and 12 respectively. As I have no male issues, I have got to necessarily celebrate the ceremony in the temple in connection with the tying of the goddess's tali to my two daughters under the orders of the guru, in accordance with the customs of my caste. I, therefore, submit this petition for fear that the authorities may raise any objection (under the Age of Consent Act). I, therefore, request that the Honourable Court may be pleased to give permission to the tying of the tali to my daughters.

Petition of two girls, aged 17 to 19.

Our father and mother are dead. Now we wish to be like prostitutes, as we are not willing to be married, and thus establish our house-name. Our mother also was of this profession. We now request permission to be prostitutes according to our religion, after we are sent before the Medical Officer.

The permission referred to in the above petitions bears reference to a decision of the High Court that, a girl who becomes a Basavi being incapable of contracting a legal marriage, her dedication when a minor is an offence under the Penal Code.

At Adoni the dead body of a new-born infant was found in a ditch, and a Basavi, working with others in a cotton factory, was suspected of foul play. The station-house officer announced his intention of visiting the factory, and she who was in a state of lactation, and could produce no baby to account for her condition, would be the culprit. Writing concerning the Basavis of the Bellary district, [64] Mr. W. Francis tells us that "parents without male issue often, instead of adopting a son in the usual manner, dedicate a daughter by a simple ceremony to the god of some temple, and thenceforth, by immemorial custom, she may inherit her parents' property, and perform their funeral rites as if she was a son. She does not marry, but lives in her parents' house with any man of equal or higher caste whom she may select, and her children inherit her father's name and bedagu (sept), and not those of their own father. If she has a son, he inherits her property; if she has only a daughter, that daughter again becomes a Basavi. Parents desiring male issue of their own, cure from sickness in themselves or their children, or relief from some calamity, will similarly dedicate their daughter. The children of a Basavi are legitimate, and neither they nor their mothers are treated as being in any way inferior to their fellows. A Basavi, indeed, from the fact that she can never be a widow, is a most welcome guest at weddings. Basavis differ from the ordinary dancing-girls dedicated at temples in that their duties in the temples (which are confined to the shrine of their dedication) are almost nominal, and that they do not prostitute themselves promiscuously for hire. A Basavi very usually lives faithfully with one man, who allows her a fixed sum weekly for her maintenance, and a fixed quantity of new raiment annually, and she works for her family as hard as any other woman. Basavis are outwardly indistinguishable from other women, and are for the most part coolies. In places there is a custom by which they are considered free to change their protectors once a year at the village car-festival or some similar anniversary, and they usually seize this opportunity of putting their partner's affections to the test by suggesting that a new cloth and bodice would be a welcome present. So poor, as a rule, are the husbands that the police aver that the anniversaries are preceded by an unusual crop of petty thefts and burglaries committed by them in their efforts to provide their customary gifts." A recent report of a Police Inspector in the Bellary district states that "crimes are committed here and there, as this is Nagarapanchami time. Nagarapanchami festival is to be celebrated at the next Ammavasya or new-moon day. It is at that time the people keeping the prostitutes should pay their dues on that day; otherwise they will have their new engagements."

In the Kurnool district, the Basavi system is practised by the Boyas, but differs from that in vogue in Bellary and Mysore. The object of making a Basavi, in these two localities, is to perpetuate the family when there is no male heir. If the only issue in a family is a female, the family becomes extinct if she marries, as by marriage she changes her sept. To prevent this, she is not married, but dedicated as a Basavi, and continues to belong to her father's sept, to which also any male issue which is born to her belongs. In the Kurnool district the motive in making Basavis is different. The girl is not wedded to an idol, but, on an auspicious day, is tied by means of a garland of flowers to the garuda kambham (lamp) of a Balija Dasari. She is released either by the man who is to receive her first favours, or by her maternal uncle. A simple feast is held, and a string of black beads tied round the girl's neck. She becomes a prostitute, and her children do not marry into respectable Boya families.

"Basava women," Dr. E. Balfour writes, [65] "are sometimes married to a dagger, sometimes to an idol. In making a female child over to the service of the temple, she is taken and dedicated for life to some idol. A khanjar, or dagger, is placed on the ground, and the girl who is to undergo the ceremony puts a garland thereon. Her mother then puts rice on the girl's forehead. The officiating priest then weds the girl to the dagger, just as if he was uniting her to a boy in marriage, by reciting the marriage stanzas, a curtain being held between the girl and the dagger." In an account of the initiation ceremony of the Basavis of the Bellary district Mr. F. Fawcett writes as follows. [66] "A sword with a lime stuck on its point is placed upright beside the novice, and held in her right hand. It represents the bridegroom, who, in the corresponding ceremony of Hindu marriage, sits on the bride's right. A tray, on which are a kalasyam (vessel of water) and a lamp, is then produced, and moved thrice in front of the girl. She rises, and, carrying the sword in her right hand, places it in the god's sanctuary. Among the dancing-girls very similar ceremonies are performed. With them, the girl's spouse is represented by a drum instead of a sword, and she bows to it. Her insignia consist of a drum and bells." In a further note on the dedication of Basavis, Mr. Fawcett writes [67] that "a tali, on which is depicted the namam of Vishnu, fastened to a necklace of black beads, is tied round her neck. She is given by way of insignia a cane as a wand carried in the right hand, and a gopalam or begging basket, which is slung on the left arm. She is then branded with the emblems of the chank and chakra. In another account [68] of the marriage ceremony among dancing-girls, it is stated that the Bogams, who are without exception prostitutes, though they are not allowed to marry, go through a marriage ceremony, which is rather a costly one. Sometimes a wealthy Native bears the expense, makes large presents to the bride, and receives her first favours. Where no such opportunity offers itself, a sword or other weapon represents the bridegroom, and an imaginary nuptial ceremony is performed. Should the Bogam woman have no daughter, she invariably adopts one, usually paying a price for her, the Kaikola (weaver) caste being the ordinary one from which to take a child.

Among the Kaikolan musicians of Coimbatore, at least one girl in every family should be set apart for the temple service, and she is instructed in music and dancing. At the tali-tying ceremony she is decorated with jewels, and made to stand on a heap of paddy (unhusked rice). A folded cloth is held before her by two Dasis, who also stand on heaps of paddy. The girl catches hold of the cloth, and her dancing master, who is seated behind her, grasping her legs, moves them up and down in time with the music which is played. In the evening she is taken, astride a pony, to the temple, where a new cloth for the idol, the tali, and other articles required for doing puja (worship) have been got ready. The girl is seated facing the idol, and the officiating Brahman gives sandal and flowers to her, and ties the tali, which has been lying at the feet of the idol, round her neck. The tali consists of a golden disc and black beads. She continues to learn music and dancing, and eventually goes through the form of a nuptial ceremony, The relations are invited on an auspicious day, and the maternal uncle, or his representative, ties a golden band on the girl's forehead, and, carrying her, places her on a plank before the assembled guests. A Brahman priest recites mantrams (prayers), and prepares the sacred fire (homam). For the actual nuptials a rich Brahman, if possible, and, if not, a Brahman of more lowly status is invited. A Brahman is called in, as he is next in importance to, and the representative of, the idol. As a Dasi can never become a widow, the beads in her tali are considered to bring good luck to women who wear them. And some people send the tali required for a marriage to a Dasi, who prepares the string for it, and attaches to it black beads from her own tali. A Dasi is also deputed to walk at the head of Hindu marriage processions. Married women do not like to do this, as they are not proof against evil omens, which the procession may meet. And it is believed that Dasis, to whom widowhood is unknown, possess the power of warding off the effects of inauspicious omens. It may be remarked, en passant, that Dasis are not at the present day so much patronised at Hindu marriages as in olden times. Much is due in this direction to the progress of enlightened ideas, which have of late been strongly put forward by Hindu social reformers. When a Kaikolan Dasi dies, her body is covered with a new cloth removed from the idol, and flowers are supplied from the temple, to which she belonged. No puja is performed in the temple till the corpse is disposed of, as the idol, being her husband, has to observe pollution.

"In former times, dancing-girls used to sleep three nights at the commencement of their career in the inner shrine of the Koppesvara temple at Palivela in the Godavari district, so as to be embraced by the god. But one of them, it is said, disappeared one night, and the practice has ceased. The funeral pyre of every girl of the dancing girl (Sani) caste dying in the village should be lit with fire brought from the temple. The same practice is found in the Srirangam temple near Trichinopoly." [69]

The following account of Dasis in Travancore, where their total strength is only about four hundred, is taken from a note by Mr. N. Subramani Aiyer. "While the Dasis of Kartikappalli, Ambalapuzha, and Shertallay belonged originally to the Konkan coast, those of Shenkottah belonged to the Pandian country. But the South Travancore Dasis are an indigenous class. The female members of the caste are, besides being known by the ordinary name of Tevadiyal and Dasi, both meaning servant of God, called Kudikkar, meaning those belonging to the house (i.e., given rent free by the Sirkar), and Pendukal, or women, the former of these designations being more popular than the latter. Males are called Tevadiyan, though many prefer to be known as Nanchinat Vellalas. Males, like these Vellalas, take the title of Pillai. In ancient days Deva-dasis, who became experts in singing and dancing, received the title of Rayar (king) which appears to have been last conferred in 1847 A.D. The South Travancore Dasis neither interdine nor intermarry with the dancing-girls of the Tamil-speaking districts. They adopt girls only from a particular division of the Nayars, Tamil Padam, and dance only in temples. Unlike their sisters outside Travancore, they do not accept private engagements in houses on the occasion of marriage. The males, in a few houses, marry the Tamil Padam and Padamangalam Nayars, while some Padamangalam Nayars and Nanchinat Vellalas in their turn take their women as wives.

"When a dancing-woman becomes too old or diseased, and thus unable to perform her usual temple duties, she applies to the temple authorities for permission to remove her ear-pendants (todus). The ceremony takes place at the palace of the Maharaja. At the appointed spot the officers concerned assemble, and the woman, seated on a wooden plank, proceeds to unhook the pendants, and places them, with a nuzzur (gift) of twelve fanams (coins), on the plank. Directly after this she turns about, and walks away without casting a second glance at the ear-ornaments which have been laid down. She becomes immediately a taikkizhavi or old mother, and is supposed to lead a life of retirement and resignation. By way of distinction, a Dasi in active service is referred to as atumpatram. Though the ear-ornaments are at once returned to her from the palace, the woman is never again permitted to put them on, but only to wear the pampadam, or antiquated ear-ornament of Tamil Sudra women. Her temple wages undergo a slight reduction, consequent on her proved incapacity.

"In some temples, as at Keralapuram, there are two divisions of dancing-girls, one known as the Murakkudi to attend to the daily routine, the other as the Chirappukuti to serve on special occasions. The special duties that may be required of the South Travancore Dasis are:--(1) to attend the two Utsavas at Sri Padmanabahswami's temple, and the Dusserah at the capital; (2) to meet and escort members of the royal family at their respective village limits; (3) to undertake the prescribed fasts for the Apamargam ceremony in connection with the annual festival of the temple. On these days strict continence is enjoined, and they are fed at the temple, and allowed only one meal a day.