Part 12

"The principal deities of the dancing-girls are those to whom the temples, in which they are employed, are dedicated. They observe the new and full-moon days, and the last Friday of every month as important. The Onam, Sivaratri, Tye-Pongal, Dipavali, and Chitrapurnami are the best recognised religious festivals. Minor deities, such as Bhadrakali, Yakshi, and Ghandarva are worshipped by the figure of a trident or sword being drawn on the wall of the house, to which food and sweetmeats are offered on Fridays. The priests on these occasions are Occhans. There are no recognized headmen in the caste. The services of Brahmans are resorted to for the purpose of purification, of Nampiyans and Saiva Vellalas for the performance of funeral rites, and of Kurukkals on occasions of marriage, and for the final ceremonies on the sixteenth day after death.

"Girls belonging to this caste may either be dedicated to temple service, or married to a male member of the caste. No woman can be dedicated to the temple after she has reached puberty. On the occasion of marriage, a sum of from fifty to a hundred and fifty rupees is given to the bride's house, not as a bride-price, but for defraying the marriage expenses. There is a preliminary ceremony of betrothal, and the marriage is celebrated at an auspicious hour. The Kurukkal recites a few hymns, and the ceremonies, which include the tying of the tali, continue for four days. The couple commence joint life on the sixteenth day after the girl has reached puberty. It is easy enough to get a divorce, as this merely depends upon the will of one of the two parties, and the woman becomes free to receive clothes from another person in token of her having entered into a fresh matrimonial alliance.

"All applications for the presentation of a girl to the temple are made to the temple authorities by the senior dancing-girl of the temple, the girl to be presented being in all cases from six to eight years of age. If she is closely related to the applicant, no enquiries regarding her status and claim need be made. In all other cases, formal investigations are instituted, and the records taken are submitted to the chief revenue officer of the division for orders. Some paddy (rice) and five fanams are given to the family from the temple funds towards the expenses of the ceremony. The practice at the Suchindrum temple is to convene, on an auspicious day, a yoga or meeting, composed of the Valiya Sri-kariyakkar, the Yogattil Potti, the Vattappalli Muttatu, and others, at which the preliminaries are arranged. The girl bathes, and goes to the temple on the morning of the selected day with two new cloths, betel leaves and nuts. The temple priest places the cloths and the tali at the feet of the image, and sets apart one for the divine use. The tali consists of a triangular bottu, bearing the image of Ganesa, with a gold bead on either side. Taking the remaining cloth and the tali, and sitting close to the girl, the priest, facing to the north, proceeds to officiate. The girl sits, facing the deity, in the inner sanctuary. The priest kindles the fire, and performs all the marriage ceremonies, following the custom of the Tirukkalyanam festival, when Siva is represented as marrying Parvati. He then teaches the girl the Panchakshara hymn if the temple is Saivite, and Ashtakshara if it is Vaishnavite, presents her with the cloth, and ties the tali round her neck. The Nattuvan, or dancing-master, instructs her for the first time in his art, and a quantity of raw rice is given to her by the temple authorities. The girl, thus married, is taken to her house, where the marriage festivities are celebrated for two or three days. As in Brahmanical marriages, the rolling of a cocoanut to and fro is gone through, the temple priest or an elderly Dasi, dressed in male attire, acting the part of the bridegroom. The girl is taken in procession through the streets.

"The birth of male children is not made an occasion for rejoicing, and, as the proverb goes, the lamp on these occasions is only dimly lighted. Inheritance is in the female line, and women are the absolute owners of all property earned. When a dancing-girl dies, some paddy and five fanams are given from the temple to which she was attached, to defray the funeral expenses. The temple priest gives a garland, and a quantity of ashes for decorating the corpse. After this, a Nampiyan, an Occhan, some Vellala headmen, and a Kudikkari, having no pollution, assemble at the house of the deceased. The Nampiyan consecrates a pot of water with prayers, the Occhan plays on his musical instrument, and the Vellalas and Kudikkari powder the turmeric to be smeared over the corpse. In the case of temple devotees, their dead bodies must be bathed with this substance by the priest, after which alone the funeral ceremonies may proceed. The Karta (chief mourner), who is the nearest male relative, has to get his whole head shaved. When a temple priest dies, though he is a Brahman, the dancing-girl, on whom he has performed the vicarious marriage rite, has to go to his death-bed, and prepare the turmeric powder to be dusted over his corpse. The anniversary of the death of the mother and maternal uncle are invariably observed.

"The adoption of a dancing-girl is a lengthy ceremony. The application to the temple authorities takes the form of a request that the girl to be adopted may be made heir to both kuti and pati, that is, to the house and temple service of the person adopting. The sanction of the authorities having been obtained, all concerned meet at the house of the person who is adopting, a document is executed, and a ceremony, of the nature of the Jatakarma, performed. The girl then goes through the marriage rite, and is handed over to the charge of the music teacher to be regularly trained in her profession."

As bearing on the initiation, laws of inheritance, etc., of Deva-dasis, the following cases, which have been argued in the Madras High Court, may be quoted [70]:--

(a) In a charge against a dancing-girl of having purchased a young girl, aged five, with the intent that she would be used for the purpose of prostitution, or knowing it to be likely that she would be so used, evidence was given of the fact of purchase for sixty rupees, and that numerous other dancing-girls, residing in the neighbourhood, were in the habit of obtaining girls and bringing them up as dancing-girls or prostitutes, and that there were no instances of girls brought up by dancing-girls ever having been married. One witness stated that there were forty dancing-girls' houses in the town (Adoni), and that their chief source of income was prostitution, and that the dancing-girls, who have no daughters of their own, get girls from others, bring them up, and eventually make them dancing-girls or prostitutes. He added that the dancing-girls get good incomes by bringing up girls in preference to boys. Another witness stated that dancing-girls, when they grow old, obtain girls and bring them up to follow their profession, and that good-looking girls are generally bought. [71]

(b) The evidence showed that two of the prisoners were dancing-girls of a certain temple, that one of them took the two daughters of the remaining prisoner to the pagoda, to be marked as dancing-girls, and that they were so marked, and their names entered in the accounts of the pagoda. The first prisoner (the mother of the girls) disposed of the children to the third prisoner for the consideration of a neck ornament and thirty-five rupees. The children appeared to be of the ages of seven and two years, respectively. Evidence was taken, which tended to prove that dancing-girls gain their livelihood by the performance of certain offices in pagodas, by assisting in the performance of ceremonies in private houses, by dancing and singing upon the occasion of marriage, and by prostitution. [72]

(c) The first prisoner presented an application for the enrolment of his daughter as a dancing-girl at one of the great pagodas. He stated her age to be thirteen. She attained puberty a month or two after her enrolment. Her father was the servant of a dancing-girl, the second prisoner, who had been teaching the minor dancing for some five years. The evidence showed that the second prisoner brought the girl to the pagoda, that both first and second prisoners were present when the bottu (or tali) was tied, and other ceremonies of the dedication performed; that third prisoner, as Battar of the temple, was the person who actually tied the bottu, which denotes that the Dasi is wedded to the idol. There was the usual evidence that dancing-girls live by prostitution, though occasionally kept by the same man for a year or more. [73]

(d) The plaintiff, a Deva-dasi, complained that, when she brought offerings according to custom and placed them before the God at a certain festival, and asked the Archakas (officiating priests) to present the offerings to the God, burn incense, and then distribute them, they refused to take the offerings on the ground that the Deva-dasi had gone to a Komati's house to dance. She claimed damages, Rs. 10, for the rejected offerings, and Rs. 40 for loss of honour, and a perpetual injunction to allow her to perform the mantapa hadi (sacrifice) at the Chittrai Vasanta festival. The priests pleaded that the dancing-girl had, for her bad conduct in having danced at a Komati's house, and subsequently refused to expiate the deed by drinking panchagavyan (five products of the cow) according to the shastras, been expelled both from her caste and from the temple. [74]

(e) In a certain temple two dancing-girls were dedicated by the Dharmakarta to the services of the temple without the consent of the existing body of dancing-girls, and the suit was instituted against the Dharmakarta and these two Deva-dasis, asking that the Court should ascertain and declare the rights of the Deva-dasis of the pagoda in regard (1) to the dedication of Deva-dasis, (2) to the Dharmakarta's power to bind and suspend them; and that the Court should ascertain and declare the rights of the plaintiff, the existing Deva-dasis, as to the exclusion of all other Deva-dasis, save those who are related to or adopted by some one of the Deva-dasis for the time being, or those who, being approved by all, are elected and proposed to the Dharmakarta for dedication. That the new Dasis may be declared to have been improperly dedicated, and not entitled to any of the rights of Deva-dasis, and restrained from attending the pagoda in that character, and from interfering with the duly dedicated Deva-dasis in the exercise of their office. That first defendant be restrained from stamping and dedicating other Deva-dasis but such as are duly approved. The Judge dismissed the case on the ground that it would be contrary to public policy to make the declaration prayed for, as, in so doing, the Court would be lending itself to bringing the parties under the criminal law. In the appeal, which was dismissed, one of the Judges remarked that the plaintiffs claimed a right exclusive to themselves and a few other dancing-women, professional prostitutes, to present infant female children for dedication to the temple as dancing-girls to be stamped as such, and so accredited to become at maturity professional prostitutes, private or public. [75]

(f) A Deva-dasi sued to establish her right to the mirasi (fees) of dancing-girls in a certain pagoda, and to be put in possession of the said mirasi together with the honours and perquisites attached thereto, and to recover twenty-four rupees, being the value of said perquisites and honours for the year preceding. She alleged that the Dharmakarta of the pagoda and his agents wrongfully dismissed her from the office because she had refused to acquiesce in the admission by the Dharmakarta of new dancing-girls into the pagoda service, of which she claimed the monopoly for herself and the then existing families of dancing-girls. The District Judge dismissed the suit, but the High Court ordered a re-investigation as to the question of the existence of an hereditary office with endowments or emoluments attached to it. [76]

(g) A girl, aged seventeen, instituted a suit against the trustees of a pagoda. It was alleged that a woman who died some years previously was one of the dancing-women attached to the pagoda, and, as such, entitled to the benefit of one of the temple endowments; that she had taken in adoption the plaintiff, who was accordingly entitled to succeed to her office and the emoluments attached to it; that the plaintiff could not enter on the office until a bottu-tali had been tied on her in the temple; and that the trustees did not permit this to be done. The prayer of the plaint was that the defendants be compelled to allow the tali to be tied in the temple in view to the girl performing the dancing service, and enjoying the honours and endowments attached thereto. The Judge dismissed the suit on the ground that the claim was inadmissible, as being in effect a claim by the plaintiff to be enlisted as a public prostitute. [77]

(h) On the death of a prostitute dancing-girl, her adopted niece, belonging to the same class, succeeds to her property, in whatever way it is acquired, in preference to a brother remaining in his caste. The general rule is that the legal relation between a prostitute dancing-girl and her undegraded relations remaining in caste be severed. [78]

(i) A pauper sued his sister for the partition of property valued at Rs. 34,662. The parties belonged to the Bogam caste in the Godavari district. The woman pleaded that the property had been acquired by her as a prostitute, and denied her brother's claim to it. He obtained a decree for only Rs. 100, being a moiety of the property left by their mother. The High Court held, on the evidence as to the local custom of the caste, that the decree was right. [79]

(j) The accused, a Madiga of the Bellary district, dedicated his minor daughter as a Basavi by a form of marriage with an idol. It appeared that a Basavi is incapable of contracting a lawful marriage, and ordinarily practices promiscuous intercourse with men, and that her sons succeed to her father's property. It was held that the accused had committed an offence under the Penal Code, which lays down that "whoever sells, lets to hire, or otherwise disposes of any minor under the age of sixteen years, with intent that such minor shall be employed or used for the purpose of prostitution, or for any unlawful and immoral purpose, shall be punished, etc." The Sessions judge referred to evidence that it was not a matter of course for Basavis to prostitute themselves for money, and added: "The evidence is very clear that Basavis are made in accordance with a custom of the Madiga caste. It is also in evidence that one of the effects of making a girl Basavi is that her male issue becomes a son of her father, and perpetuates his family, whereas, if she were married, he would perpetuate her husband's family. In this particular case, the girl was made a Basavi that she might be heir to her aunt, who was a Basavi, but childless. Siddalingana Gowd says that they and their issue inherit the parents' property. There is evidence that Basavis are made on a very large scale, and that they live in their parents' houses. There is no evidence that they are regarded otherwise than as respectable members of the caste. It seems as if the Basavi is the Madiga and Bedar equivalent of the "appointed daughter" of Hindu law (Mitakshara, Chap. I, s. xi, 3). Upon the whole, the evidence seems to establish that, among the Madigas, there is a widespread custom of performing, in a temple at Uchangidurgam, a marriage ceremony, the result of which is that the girl is married without possibility of widowhood or divorce; that she is at liberty to have intercourse with men at her pleasure; that her children are heirs to her father, and keep up his family; and that Basavi's nieces, being made Basavis, become their heirs. The Basavis seem in some cases to become prostitutes, but the language used by the witnesses generally points only to free intercourse with men, and not necessarily to receipt of payment for use of their bodies. In fact, they seem to acquire the right of intercourse with men without more discredit than accrues to the men of their caste for intercourse with women who are not their wives. [80]

It may be observed that Deva-dasis are the only class of women, who are, under Hindu law as administered in the British Courts, allowed to adopt girls to themselves. Amongst the other castes, a widow, for instance, cannot adopt to herself, but only to her husband, and she cannot adopt a daughter instead of a son. A recent attempt by a Brahman at Poona to adopt a daughter, who should take the place of a natural-born daughter, was held to be invalid by general law, and not sanctioned by local usage. [81] The same would be held in Madras. "But among dancing-girls," Mayne writes, [82] "it is customary in Madras and Western India to adopt girls to follow their adoptive mother's profession, and the girls so adopted succeed to their property. No particular ceremonies are necessary, recognition alone being sufficient. In the absence, however, of a special custom, and on the analogy of an ordinary adoption, only one girl can be adopted." In Calcutta and Bombay these adoptions by dancing-girls have been held invalid. [83]

Of proverbs relating to dancing-girls, the following may be quoted:--

(1) The dancing-girl who could not dance said that the hall was not big enough. The Rev. H. Jensen gives [84] as an equivalent "When the devil could not swim, he laid the blame on the water."

(2) If the dancing-girl be alive, and her mother dies, there will be beating of drums; but, if the dancing-girl dies, there will be no such display. This is explained by Jensen as meaning that, to secure the favour of a dancing-girl, many men will attend her mother's funeral; but, if the dancing-girl herself dies, there is nothing to be gained by attending the funeral.

(3) Like a dancing-girl wiping a child. Jensen remarks that a dancing-girl is supposed to have no children, so she does not know how to keep them clean. Said of one who tries to mend a matter, but lacks experience, and makes things worse than they were before.

(4) As when a boy is born in a dancing-girl's house. Jensen notes that, if dancing-girls have children, they desire to have girls, that they may be brought up to their own profession.

(5) The dancing-girl, who was formerly more than filled with good food in the temple, now turns a somersault to get a poor man's rice.

(6) If a matron is chaste, she may live in the dancing-girl's street,

The insigne of courtesans, according to the Conjeeveram records, is a Cupid, that of a Christian, a curry-comb. [85]

Devadiga.--The Devadigas are Canarese-speaking temple servants in South Canara, concerning whom Mr. H. A. Stuart writes as follows. [86] "This is a class of servants, chiefly musicians in Hindu temples. In the reign of Mayura Varma, who built a number of new temples, it was found that Brahmans could not perform all the services. It was, therefore, ordained by him that the puja or worship alone should be performed by the Brahmans, and that the Stanikas and Devadigas should perform the other services in the temples. They are also called Moili (or Moyili), but there is a caste called Kannada Moili which is quite distinct, and Devadigas will not eat with them. Some of them cultivate lands, and some are employed as peons and constables. They returned eleven sub-divisions, but only one (Tulu) is numerically important. They are Vaishnavites, and Tulu Brahmans are their priests. As regards marriage, there is no fixed age. Remarriage of widows is permitted, but it is practiced only in the case of young widows. The dead are burned. They eat flesh, and drink liquor."

The Devadigas or Moilis speak Tulu, and are mainly agriculturists. Their traditional occupation, however, is said to be service in temples (slaves or servants of the deva or god). A large number of them, both male and female, are engaged as domestic servants. Like the Bants, they follow the aliya santana law of inheritance (in the female line), and they have the same balis (septs) as the Bants and Billavas. In their marriage ceremonies, they closely imitate the Bants. An interesting feature in connection therewith is that, during the dhare ceremony, a screen is interposed between the bride and bridegroom at the time when the dhare water is poured. As a sign of betrothal, a ring is given to the bride-elect, and she wears it on the little finger. The caste is a mixed one, and here and there Devadigas are seen to have the typical prominent cheek-bones and square face of the Jains.

In the Census Report, 1901, Dakkera Devali, Padarti, and Valagadava are returned as sub-divisions of Devadiga.

Devala (belonging to God).--An exogamous sept of Odde. The equivalent Devali has been recorded as a sub-caste of Devadiga, and Devalyal as a division of the Todas. [87] A division of the Irulas of the Nilgiris, settled near the village of Devala, is known by that name.

Devanga.--The Devangas are a caste of weavers, speaking Telugu or Canarese, who are found all over the Madras Presidency. Those whom I studied in the Bellary district connected my operations in a vague way with the pilag (plague) tax, and collection of subscriptions for the Victoria Memorial. They were employed in weaving women's saris in pure cotton, or with a silk border, which were sold to rich merchants in the local bazaar, some of whom belong to the Devanga caste. They laughingly said that, though they are professional weavers, they find it cheapest to wear cloths of European manufacture.

The Devangas are also called Jadaru or Jada (great men), Dendra, Devara, Dera, Seniyan, and Sedan. At Coimbatore, in the Tamil country, they are called Settukkaran (economical people).