Description :The system of devadasis as it exited in many other regions of India was unknown to Kerala. Even no positive evidence to show that this system had ever existing in any of the temple of Kerala. In Kerala no such families of indigenous origin are found to claim such a tradition but some scholars have held strongly that a large portion of the employment in the temples of Kerala was reserved for women and among these the post of devadasi was most important to which well-born and highly educated ladies, proficient in the arts, were appointed. Prof. Pillai's conclusions are criticized by certain other scholars as baseless conjectures. He has mainly based his inference on certain inscriptions in the Tamil Nadu temples at Suchindram, Cholapuram and Kanchipuram. As he himself points out "it is probable that when the Cholas subjugated south Travancore they instituted the system of devedasis in the temples there also. In the border areas of north Kerala also the system might have infiltrated from the adjoining areas.The historicity of the argument of Prof. Pillai in this context is strongly challenged by certain other scholars and this has a valid bearing on the socio-cultural heritage of the region.
Source :Sangeet Natak Akademi
Type :Article
Received From :Sangeet Natak Akademi
DC Field
Value
dc.contributor.author
Panikkar, Kavalam Narayana
dc.coverage.spatial
Kerala
dc.date.accessioned
2017-07-05T21:32:21Z
dc.date.available
2017-07-05T21:32:21Z
dc.date.issued
1990
dc.description.abstract
The system of devadasis as it exited in many other regions of India was unknown to Kerala. Even no positive evidence to show that this system had ever existing in any of the temple of Kerala. In Kerala no such families of indigenous origin are found to claim such a tradition but some scholars have held strongly that a large portion of the employment in the temples of Kerala was reserved for women and among these the post of devadasi was most important to which well-born and highly educated ladies, proficient in the arts, were appointed. Prof. Pillai's conclusions are criticized by certain other scholars as baseless conjectures. He has mainly based his inference on certain inscriptions in the Tamil Nadu temples at Suchindram, Cholapuram and Kanchipuram. As he himself points out "it is probable that when the Cholas subjugated south Travancore they instituted the system of devedasis in the temples there also. In the border areas of north Kerala also the system might have infiltrated from the adjoining areas.The historicity of the argument of Prof. Pillai in this context is strongly challenged by certain other scholars and this has a valid bearing on the socio-cultural heritage of the region.
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