Brill’s Encyclopedia of HANDBOOK OF ORIENTAL STUDIES HANDBUCH DER ORIENTALISTIK

SECTION TWO

edited by J. Bronkhorst A. Malinar

VOLUME 22/5 Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism

Volume V: Religious Symbols Hinduism and Migration: Contemporary Communities outside South Asia Some Modern Religious Groups and Teachers

Edited by Knut A. Jacobsen (Editor-in-Chief )

Associate Editors Helene Basu Angelika Malinar Vasudha Narayanan

Leiden • BOSTON 2013 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Brill’s encyclopedia of Hinduism / edited by Knut A. Jacobsen (editor-in-chief); associate editors, Helene Basu, Angelika Malinar, Vasudha Narayanan. p. cm. — (Handbook of oriental studies. Section three, India, ISSN 0169-9377; v. 22/5) ISBN 978-90-04-17896-0 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Hinduism—Encyclopedias. I. Jacobsen, Knut A., 1956- II. Basu, Helene. III. Malinar, Angelika. IV. Narayanan, Vasudha. BL1105.B75 2009 294.503—dc22 2009023320

ISSN 0169-9377 ISBN 978 90 04 17896 0

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Printed in the Netherlands Table of Contents, Volume V

Prelims Preface ...... xvii List of Contributors ...... xviii Notes for Users ...... xxxiii Primary Sources ...... xxxv Primary Source Abbreviations ...... lxviii Journals and Series ...... lxxvii General Abbreviations ...... xc

Religious Symbols Cakra ...... 3 Symbolic Meanings of the Cakra ...... 3 History ...... 4 Worship of Sudarśana ...... 5 Cakra in New Age Movements ...... 6 Conclusion ...... 6 Colors ...... 7 Color in Medicine, Magic, Metaphysics, and Ritual ...... 7 Elements, Experience, and the Cosmos ...... 9 Colorlessness, Purity, and Transcendence ...... 10 Deities, Devotion, and Iconography ...... 11 Red, Gold, and “Shining”: Vitality, Agni, Rudra, and the Goddess ...... 11 Blue, Black, and “Dark”: Krṣ ṇ a,̣ Śiva, and Kālī ...... 12 White and Ash Gray: and Śiva ...... 12 Perspectives on Color ...... 13 Conch ...... 14 Mythology ...... 14 Iconography ...... 14 The Conch as a Sign of Visṇ ụ ...... 14 The “Presence” of Visṇ u’ṣ Conch on Earth ...... 15 Use in Ritual ...... 15 Divine Attributes and Emblems ...... 16 The Term “Emblem” in the Present Context ...... 17 Ornaments ...... 18 Aksamālạ̄ (String of Seeds or Beads Used for a Contemplative Practice) ...... 18 Animal Skin (Carman) ...... 18 Arrow (Bāṇa, Śara) ...... 19 Axe or Hatchet (Paraśu, Kuthārạ ) ...... 19 Banner, Flag (Dhvaja, Ketu) ...... 20 Begging Bowl (Bhiksāpātrạ ) ...... 20 Bell (Ghaṇtạ̄ ) ...... 20 Book, Palm-Leaf Manuscript (Pustaka) ...... 20 Bottle, Waterpot, or Ewer (Kamaṇḍalu, Kuṇḍikā, Kalaśa, or Bhrṇ gārȧ ) ...... 20 Bow (Cāpa, Dhanus, or Śārngȧ ) ...... 21 Chisel or Related Implement (Ṭankȧ ) ...... 21 Cloth (Vastra) ...... 22 Club (Gadā, Lakuta;̣ Musala [Pestle]) ...... 22 Cobra (See Serpent) ...... 23

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2013 BEH, vol. V Also available online – www.brill.com vi Table of Contents Conch Shell (Śankhȧ ) ...... 23 Dagger (See Knife) ...... 23 Deer (Mrgạ ) ...... 23 Discus or Wheel (Cakra) ...... 23 Drinking Vessel (Pātra, Pānapātra) ...... 23 Drum (Ḍamaru [a Small Hourglass-Shaped Drum]; Ḍhakkā) ...... 24 Earth (Mahī, Dharaṇi) ...... 24 Elephant (Gaja) ...... 24 Eye (Netra, Nayana, or Aksạ ) ...... 24 Fire (Agni, Jvāla) ...... 25 Flag (See Banner) ...... 25 Flute (Veṇu, Muralī) ...... 25 Fly Whisk (Cāmara) ...... 25 Fruit (Phala) ...... 25 Goad, Elephant Driver’s Hook (Ankuśȧ ) ...... 26 Hammer (Mudgara) ...... 26 Head, Bald Head (Muṇḍa) ...... 26 Jewel-Filled Vessel (Ratnapātra) ...... 26 Knife or Dagger (Kartari, Kartr,̣ or Churī) ...... 26 Lingȧ (Sign, Emblem, or Phallus) ...... 26 Lotus (Padma, Pankajȧ , or Kamala) ...... 27 Mace (See Club) ...... 28 Mirror (Darpaṇa) ...... 28 Money Bag (Mātrābhastrā) ...... 28 Mongoose (Nakula) ...... 28 Moon Crescent (Bālacandra – Young Moon) ...... 28 Noose, Lasso (Pāśa) ...... 29 Parasol (Chattra) ...... 29 Parrot (Śuka; Tam. Kilị ) ...... 29 Peacock Feathers (Mayūrapattra, Mayūrapiccha) ...... 29 Pen, Reed Pen (Lekhanī) ...... 30 Phallus (See Lingȧ ) ...... 30 Plow (Hala) ...... 30 Pot of Riches (Nidhipātra) ...... 30 Radish (Mūlaka) ...... 30 Rooster (Kukkuta,̣ Krkavākụ ) ...... 30 Sacrificial Ladles (Sruk or Śruc, Sruva) ...... 30 Serpent, Cobra (Sarpa, Nāga, or Bhujangȧ ) ...... 30 Shield (Khetakạ ) ...... 31 Skull, Skull-Cup (Kapāla) ...... 31 Spear, Lance, or Javelin (Śakti, Śūla; Tam. Vēl) ...... 32 Staff (Daṇḍa) ...... 32 Stringed Instrument Resembling a Lute or Stick Zither (Vīṇā, Vallakī) ...... 32 Sweet Balls (Modaka) ...... 33 Sword (Khaḍga; Also Asi) ...... 33 Thunderbolt or Bolt of Lightning (Vajra) ...... 34 Tooth or Tusk (Danta; Svadanta [One’s Own Tooth or Tusk]) ...... 34 Treasure (See Pot of Riches) ...... 34 Trident (Triśūla, Śūla) ...... 34 Water Lily (Kalhāra or Kahlāra, Utpala, Nīlotpala, or Indīvara) ...... 35 Waterpot (See Bottle) ...... 35 Winnowing Fan (Śūrpa) ...... 35 Wreath or (Mālā) ...... 35 Divine Musical Instruments ...... 36 Musical Instruments ...... 37 Myth, Drama, and Religious Practice ...... 43 Dress and Adornment ...... 45 Table of Contents vii Fire ...... 50 Agni in Comparisons and Metaphors ...... 50 Agni’s Hiding ...... 51 The Trifunctional Fire ...... 52 Sexual and Procreative Fire ...... 53 Gems, Gold, Seed, and Soma: The Multiforms of Fire ...... 56 Concluding Remarks ...... 57 Gemstones ...... 59 The Conventional Properties and Meanings of Gemstones ...... 59 The Origins of Gemstones ...... 60 Diamonds, Pearls, Snake Gems, Emeralds, and Sapphires ...... 61 Crystal ...... 62 Notable Individual Hindu Gemstones ...... 63 Magical, Idolatrous Hindu Gems in the Western Imagination ...... 64 Hair ...... 65 Practices ...... 65 Meanings ...... 69 Lingȧ ...... 72 Textual Sources ...... 72 Lingȧ in Ritual ...... 77 Iconography ...... 79 Lotus ...... 82 The Lotus and : Auspiciousness and Generative Power ...... 83 Detachment ...... 84 The Lotus and the Sun ...... 85 Mālā ...... 87 Fresh Flowers and Pūjā ...... 88 Making Mālās: Devotion or Work? ...... 89 Mudrās ...... 91 Mudrās in Theatre ...... 91 Mudrās in Iconography ...... 92 Mudrās in the Tantric Texts and Rituals ...... 92 TheMudrā s as States of Consciousness in the Krama ...... 96 New Field and Ancient Echoes ...... 97 Oṃ ...... 100 Oṃ in the and Upanisadṣ ...... 100 Oṃ in Later Literature ...... 101 Regional Traditions ...... 101 Conclusion ...... 102 Prasāda ...... 103 Material Prasāda in Hindu Ritual ...... 103 Prasāda in Vaisṇ avạ Contexts ...... 104 Prasāda in Śaiva Contexts ...... 105 Prasāda in Śākta Contexts ...... 106 General Observations on Contemporary Hindu Prasāda ...... 107 Prasāda in Sources ...... 108 Understanding Prasāda in Classical and Contemporary Terms ...... 110 Rām ...... 112 Literary Sources for Rām and Rāmnām ...... 113 The Purānaṣ ...... 114 Tantric Tradition and Literature ...... 114 Medieval Vaisṇ avạ Upanisadṣ ...... 114 Svāmī Rāmānanda and His Sampradāya ...... 115 The Written “Rām” ...... 116 Rāmnām Banks ...... 117 Sacred Threads ...... 119 Sacred Threads in Hindu Rituals ...... 119 viii Table of Contents The Sacrificial Cord of the Brahmans ...... 120 The Ascetics’ and Others’ Threads ...... 121 Śālagrāma ...... 123 History of Śālagrāma Worship ...... 123 Kinds of Śālagrāmas ...... 124 Arcā and Śālagrāma ...... 124 Narratives about the Origins of the Śālagrāma ...... 125 Smell ...... 127 The Sense of Smell and the Nature of Odors ...... 127 Important Odors in Hinduism ...... 128 Aromatic Materials and Perfumes ...... 129 Later Developments ...... 132 Sound ...... 134 The Veda as a Paradigm of Sacred Sound ...... 134 Brahman in the Early Rgvedạ ...... 135 The Language Goddess Vāc ...... 136 , Melodies, and Nonsemantic Sthobas ...... 136 Oṃ in the Upanisadṣ ...... 139 Holy Hearing and Acoustic Piety in Postvedic Literature ...... 140 Tantric and Devotional Mantras – Power and Musicalized Devotion ...... 141 Fluid Signs and Sonic Symbols – Language and the Alphabet in Scientific Contexts ...... 143 The Postvedic Language Goddess and the Alphabet as Primordial Sound ...... 145 Linguistic Metaphysics ...... 146 TheNādabrahman as a Cultural and Transcultural Symbol ...... 148 Svastika ...... 150 and Other Forehead Marks ...... 152 Origins of the Mark ...... 154 Life-affirming and Life-negating Values ...... 154 Concepts of the Deity: Gods and Goddesses ...... 155 Sectarian Traditions ...... 156 Sectarian Marks and Their Connection to Caste and Stage of Life ...... 156 The Three Horizontal Lines of Śaiva Devotees ...... 157 The Sounds of the Sacred Name:Mantra and Meaning ...... 157 Pilgrimage and Sacrality of Local Places; Physical and Moral Purity ...... 158 Purity: Physical, Ritual, Moral ...... 159 Meditation and the Eye of Wisdom ...... 159 The Auspicious State of Being Married ...... 159 Conclusion ...... 160 Trees and Plants ...... 161 Important Plants and Trees ...... 162 Conclusion ...... 166 Vāhanas ...... 168 Vāhanas in Iconography ...... 169 Ajā (goat) ...... 170 Ākhu (mouse, rat) ...... 170 Ananta (“Endless,” “Infinite”; also called Śesa)̣ ...... 170 Aśva (horse) ...... 170 Bhāsa (vulture): see grdhrạ ...... 170 Bhūta (lit. living being): see Rāvanạ ...... 170 Gaja (elephant) ...... 170 Gardabha (ass, donkey) ...... 171 Garuḍa (“Devourer”) ...... 171 Go (cow) ...... 171 Godhā, godhikā (lizard, iguana) ...... 171 Grāha (crocodile) ...... 171 Grdhrạ (vulture) ...... 171 Hanumān (“Having [Large] Jaws”) ...... 171 Haṃ sa (wild goose) ...... 171 Harin: see mrgạ ...... 171 Table of Contents ix Kabandha (a category of gaṇa) ...... 171 Kāka (raven) ...... 171 Kāmadhenu (“Wish-fulfilling Cow”) ...... 171 Kapota (dove, pigeon) ...... 171 Khara (ass): see gardabha ...... 171 Kola (boar) ...... 171 Kukkuṭa (cock) ...... 171 Kūrma (tortoise) ...... 171 Mahisạ (buffalo) ...... 171 Makara (dolphin, crocodile) ...... 171 Maṇḍūka (frog) ...... 173 Mārjāra (cat) ...... 173 Matsya (fish) ...... 173 Mayūra (peacock) ...... 173 Mesạ (ram) ...... 173 Mīna (fish): seematsya ...... 173 Mrgạ (gazelle, antelope, deer) ...... 173 Mrtakạ (corpse): see śava ...... 173 Nakra (crocodile): see graha ...... 173 Nāga (snake) ...... 173 Nandi (“Rejoicing,” “Gladdening”) ...... 173 Nara (man) ...... 173 Preta (the dead, departed) ...... 173 Rāvanạ (“Roaring” or “Causing to Cry”) ...... 173 Rkṣ ạ (bear) ...... 174 Śārdūla (tiger, lion, panther, leopard) ...... 175 Sarpa (serpent): see nāga ...... 175 Śava (corpse) ...... 175 Śesạ (“Remainder”) ...... 175 Śikhin (peacock): see mayūra ...... 175 Siṃ ha (lion) ...... 175 Śuka (parrot) ...... 175 Śūkara (boar): see kola ...... 175 Srgālạ (or śrgālạ ; jackal) ...... 175 Śvan (dog) ...... 175 Śyena (hawk) ...... 175 Ulūka (owl) ...... 175 Usṭ ̣ra (camel) ...... 175 Vānara (monkey) ...... 175 Vrkạ (wolf ) ...... 175 Vrṣ an,̣ vrṣ abhạ (bull) ...... 175 Yālị (leogryph) ...... 175 South Indian Temple Vāhanas ...... 175 Vibhūti ...... 181 ...... 184

Hinduism and Migration: Contemporary Communities outside South Asia Afghanistan ...... 189 Developments in the Late 20th Century ...... 190 Restriction, Religious Persecution, and Expulsion Since 1992 ...... 190 The 21st Century – Discrepancies between General Improvements for Muslims and the Precarious Situation of and Sikhs ...... 191 Summary ...... 192 Australia and New Zealand ...... 193 Australia ...... 193 “Coolie” Diaspora ...... 193 White Australia Policy ...... 194 The Post-Independent Hindu Settlement ...... 194 The Postcolonial and Postmodern Phase ...... 195 x Table of Contents Adaptation ...... 196 Conclusion ...... 199 New Zealand ...... 199 Canada ...... 206 China ...... 212 Indians in China since the 1980s ...... 212 Religious Practices among the Indian Traders in China ...... 214 Conclusion ...... 216 Denmark ...... 217 The Indian Hindus ...... 218 The Sri Lankan Tamil Hindus ...... 219 Keeping Up Hindu Traditions in a New Setting and Under New Circumstances ...... 221 East Africa ...... 222 Social Background ...... 224 Temples and Spiritual Gatherings ...... 225 Conclusion ...... 227 Fiji ...... 229 The Religious Life of the First Generation ...... 230 The Period as a Farming Community ...... 230 Independence and Development of a Political Community ...... 232 Conclusion ...... 233 France ...... 235 Gulf Countries ...... 240 Hindu Communities ...... 241 Hindu Traditions ...... 241 Temple Worship ...... 241 Life-cycle Rituals ...... 242 Festivals ...... 242 Oman ...... 242 United Arab Emirates ...... 242 Bahrain ...... 243 Kuwait ...... 243 Saudi Arabia ...... 244 Qatar ...... 244 Yemen ...... 244 Concluding Remarks ...... 244 Guyana ...... 246 A South Indian–Based Religious Tradition ...... 246 The North Indian–Based Religious Tradition ...... 247 The Modern Challenges ...... 248 International Connections ...... 250 Conclusion ...... 250 Indonesia ...... 252 Religion in Indonesia ...... 252 The Idea of Agama Hindu ...... 253 Hindu Community ...... 254 Of Solidarity, Place and Person ...... 254 The Good, Collective and Otherwise ...... 255 Italy ...... 257 Malaysia ...... 263 Mauritius ...... 269 Temples and the Social Structure ...... 270 Modern Developments ...... 271 Conclusion ...... 272 Netherlands ...... 274 Processes of Loss, Maintenance, and Reorientation ...... 274 Successful Integration? ...... 276 Analysis and Typification ...... 277 Table of Contents xi Norway ...... 279 Portugal ...... 285 Migration to Portugal after Mozambican Independence ...... 285 Adaptation: Economic Integration ...... 287 Sociocultural Integration ...... 288 Russia ...... 291 Singapore ...... 295 South Africa ...... 300 Social History of South African Indians ...... 300 Emergence of Temple Culture ...... 301 A Challenge to Ritualistic Hindu Culture: Neo-Hinduism ...... 303 Bollywood Influence on Hinduism ...... 305 Recent Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in South Africa ...... 305 Conclusion ...... 306 Suriname ...... 307 Religious Reproduction and Group Formation ...... 307 Postwar Institutionalization ...... 309 Some Specific Religious Issues ...... 310 Conclusion ...... 311 Sweden ...... 312 Diaspora Hindus and Their Shrines ...... 312 Diaspora Temples in Stockholm ...... 313 Gujaratis in West Sweden ...... 314 Shrines of the Movements ...... 314 in Sweden ...... 315 Integration, Representation, and Visibility ...... 316 Switzerland ...... 317 Hindu Migrant Communities ...... 318 New Religious Movements with a Hindu Background ...... 320 The Presence of Global Hindu Movements ...... 321 Yoga in Switzerland ...... 322 Thailand ...... 324 The Thai Brahmans ...... 324 Various Communities of Indian Hindus due to Migration ...... 325 The Hindus’ Position inThai Society ...... 327 Trinidad and Tobago ...... 329 Religion in the Village Setting ...... 329 The New Hinduism of the Postwar Era ...... 331 Conclusion ...... 332 United Kingdom ...... 334 Hinduism in Britain: Sources ...... 334 Hindu Settlement and Communal Development ...... 335 Home and Family ...... 337 National Initiatives and Global Interconnections ...... 338 United States ...... 342 History of Hindu Ideas and Practices ...... 342 Vivekananda and the Ongoing Messages of “Universalism” ...... 343 Yoga ...... 345 History of Hindus in the United States ...... 346 Statistics and Taxonomy of Hindu Institutions in the United States ...... 346 Domestic/Informal Groups ...... 347 Global Organizations ...... 347 Temple Communities ...... 347 Cyber Societies ...... 347 Cultural Groups ...... 348 Temple Hinduism ...... 348 Community Activities ...... 351 Vietnam ...... 353 xii Table of Contents Some Modern Religious Groups and Teachers Ad Dharm ...... 359 Mangoo Ram and the Founding Circle ...... 359 The Ideology of a Political Religion ...... 360 , Census, and an Epic Fast ...... 361 Politics and the Decline of Ad Dharm ...... 363 Ad Dharm Anew ...... 364 Ananda­mayi Ma ...... 366 Ananda­mayi Ma’s Life ...... 366 Ma’s Teachings ...... 368 Ananda­mayi Ma, an Avatār of Kālī ...... 369 The Human Kālī after Her Death ...... 371 Conclusion ...... 372 Aramuga Navalar ...... 373 Life, Activity, and Teaching ...... 374 Criticism of Protestant Missionaries ...... 376 Āgamas and Rituals ...... 376 Caste ...... 377 Images of Navalar ...... 378 Art of Living Foundation ...... 380 The Founder ...... 380 The Teachings ...... 381 Free Education: Ved Vignan Maha Vidya Peeth ...... 385 Transforming Rural India ...... 385 Peace ...... 386 Politics ...... 387 The Future ...... 387 ...... 389 Origins, Doctrinal Basis, and Early Development ...... 389 The Social Project of Aryanism: Education, Caste Reform, and Women’s Uplift ...... 391 The Political Entanglements of the Arya Samaj ...... 393 The Arya Samaj in Independent India and Overseas ...... 395 Aurobindo ...... 397 Early Life ...... 397 Major Works ...... 398 Life during the 1920s and 1930s: the Mother and the Founding of the Āśram ...... 400 Three Formulations of HisYoga ...... 401 Later Life and Writings and Death: 1938–1950 ...... 402 Legacy ...... 403 Bhagwan Shree /Osho ...... 405 The Early Years ...... 405 The First Phase: 1960–1974 ...... 405 Core Teachings under the Various Names Rajneesh Used ...... 407 The Second Phase: The PuneᾹśram , 1974–1981 ...... 407 The Disciples in Pune ...... 409 The Third Phase: Passage to America, 1981–1985 ...... 409 The Fourth Phase: The Buddha Returns to Pune, 1986–1990 ...... 411 The Fifth Phase: The Contemporary Movement, from 1991 ...... 412 The Legacy ...... 412 Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati ...... 415 Historical Context ...... 415 Early Life ...... 416 Religious Practice ...... 417 Missionary Work ...... 418 The Gaudiya Math in Europe ...... 420 Crises of Succession ...... 420 Modern Hindu Personalism ...... 420 Studies of Bhaktisiddhanta’s Work ...... 421 Table of Contents xiii Bharat Sevashram Sangha and Pranavanandaji Maharaj ...... 424 The Child Manifestation of Śiva ...... 425 Athletic Asceticism and ...... 426 Organization Development ...... 427 The DivineGuru ...... 428 Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Sanstha ...... 432 Early History of BAPS ...... 432 Line of Succession ...... 432 Growth ...... 433 Transnational Growth ...... 434 and ...... 437 Chinmayananda and ...... 445 Life ...... 446 Teachings ...... 448 Organizations ...... 450 ...... 453 Modern Search for Truth ...... 453 Dayananda’s Thought and Philosophy ...... 454 Constructing Vedic Religion ...... 454 Defining Ethical Hinduism ...... 455 Aryans, Āryāvarta, and Unity among Hindus ...... 458 and State ...... 459 Conclusion ...... 460 Female and Ascetics ...... 461 Women and Classical Definitions ...... 461 Social Expectations for Women ...... 464 Authority ...... 466 Community ...... 466 Hans Ji Maharaj and the Divya Sandesh Parishad ...... 470 Biography ...... 470 Contested Academic Sources ...... 472 The Teachings of Shri Hans Ji Maharaj ...... 473 The Heritage of Shri HansJi Maharaj ...... 474 Hariharananda Aranya ...... 476 Kāpil Guphā (Cave of ) ...... 477 Preparation for Meditation ...... 480 Meditation ...... 481 Conclusion ...... 483 ISKCON and Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada ...... 485 A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami (Srila Prabhupada) ...... 485 History and Development ...... 487 Tradition, Doctrines, and Practices ...... 488 ISKCON’s Position About Its Relation to Hinduism ...... 489 ...... 491 Biographical Details ...... 491 Philosophical Foundations ...... 494 Dialogue ...... 496 Education ...... 496 Relationship ...... 497 Krishnamacharya ...... 498 Lakshman Joo ...... 502 Life and Works ...... 502 Philosophy and Spiritual Practice ...... 504 Maharishi Mahesh and Transcendental Meditation ...... 508 Mahima and ...... 515 Legendary Origins ...... 515 Youth and Initiation ...... 515 First Disciples and the Ᾱśrama in Khaliapali ...... 516 xiv Table of Contents Disappearance and Succession ...... 516 Themes of Bhima Bhoi’s Poetry ...... 516 Bhima Bhoi: The Blind Ascetic? ...... 519 The Subaltern Voice ...... 520 The LayGuru ...... 521 Institutional Splits with the Movement ...... 521 Mission Trust and Embracing The World ...... 523 Mata Amritanandamayi ...... 523 Disaster Relief ...... 526 Housing/Care for Children/Fighting Hunger ...... 527 Empowering Women ...... 528 Education ...... 529 Medicine ...... 529 Critics ...... 529 Melmaruvathur Movement ...... 531 Origins of the Temple ...... 531 The Goddess and Bangaru Adigalar ...... 532 Innovative Rituals and Tradition ...... 532 The Goddess Focuses on Social Problems ...... 533 Local and Pan-Indian Deity ...... 533 Modern Astrologers ...... 535 Translators and Educators ...... 535 The Appeal to (and of ) Nāḍigranthas ...... 537 Cultural Transmission and Western Practitioners ...... 538 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi ...... 542 Biography ...... 542 Concepts and Practices ...... 545 TheBhagavadgītā ...... 549 and ...... 552 The Practices ...... 555 ...... 559 Life and Education ...... 559 Literary Works ...... 560 Philosophy ...... 561 Religious and Social Reforms ...... 562 Radhakrishnan ...... 566 Radhasoamis ...... 572 The Utopian Society of Dayalbagh ...... 572 The Spiritual Kingdom of Beas ...... 576 ...... 578 The Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna: Primary Sources ...... 578 The Early Life of Ramakrishna ...... 579 Spiritual Apprenticeship ...... 580 A Brahman Guru and Middle-Class Devotees ...... 581 The Gospel of Ramakrishna ...... 582 and Mission ...... 586 Emic and Etic Literature on the Ramakrishna Math and Mission ...... 586 The Origins and Early Development of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission ...... 587 Landmarks in the Subsequent Development of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission ...... 590 Conclusion ...... 591 ...... 594 Life and Works ...... 595 Philosophy ...... 597 Rammohun Roy ...... 602 Rammohun’s Life ...... 602 Rammohun’s Works ...... 604 Rammohun’s Ideas ...... 606 Rammohun’s Legacy ...... 608 Table of Contents xv Sarada Devi ...... 610 Sarada Devi and Sri Ramakrishna ...... 610 Ramakrishna’s Passing and the Emergence of the Holy Mother ...... 613 Her Later Years: Family Anxieties ...... 616 Charisma, Wit, and Wisdom of the Holy Mother ...... 617 Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami ...... 619 Religious Lineage: Kadaitswami, Chellappaswami, and Yogaswami ...... 622 TheHinduism Today Magazine ...... 623 ...... 625 The Conquest of Death: Charisma in the Imagination, Globalization, and Transcendence ...... 625 Constructing the Sacred Person in Indic Theology: A Philosophy of Intimate Charisma ...... 625 Sathya Sai Baba’s Life Story, Personhood, and Charisma ...... 626 Extending Sacred Personhood and Charisma ...... 628 Theories of Charisma and Sathya Sai Baba’s Personhood: Relationality, Affect, and Persuasiveness ...... 629 Constructing and Deploying Sacred Personhood; Strategies, Narratives, Durabilities, and Logics ...... 630 Beyond Humanity and Divinity: Tactical Captivity and Strategic Liberation ...... 631 Towards Nomadic Charisma ...... 631 Satnamis ...... 634 Satnāmīs in Early Modern India ...... 634 The Satnampanth of Chhattisgarh ...... 635 Formation of the Satnampanth ...... 635 Critical Elaborations ...... 637 Issues of Gender ...... 639 Questions of Politics ...... 639 Shirdi Sai Baba ...... 641 The Life ...... 641 The Teachings ...... 646 Conclusion ...... 648 Sivananda and the ...... 651 Sivananda and M. Eliade ...... 652 Sivananda and Tantrism ...... 653 Building the Divine Life Society ...... 654 Sivananda and the All-India Tour ...... 655 Creating a Transnational Community: The Divine Life Society and WorldwideYoga ...... 657 and Pandurang Shastri Athavale ...... 659 Swadhyaya after Athavale ...... 662 Swaminarayan and Swaminarayan Hinduism ...... 664 The Life Story of Sahajanand Swami ...... 664 Swaminarayan Teachings ...... 665 Swaminarayan Social Reform and Discipline ...... 666 Division ...... 668 Transnational expansion ...... 670 Conclusion ...... 671 Tagore ...... 672 Budding Poet ...... 672 Religious Training and Experiences ...... 672 Jīvandevatā, God of Life ...... 673 Public Universalist Hinduism and the Hindu Nation ...... 674 Theology of Hindu Modernity ...... 675 The Religion of Man ...... 677 Theosophical Society ...... 679 Theosophy, Evolution, and Spirituality ...... 684 “No Religion Higher Than Truth” ...... 686 Vivekananda ...... 689 Vivekananda’s Life ...... 689 Points of Contention ...... 691 xvi Table of Contents Vivekananda’s Works ...... 692 Vivekananda’s Ideas ...... 692 Vivekananda’s Legacy ...... 695 Vivekananda Kendra ...... 698 Eknath Ranade, the Founder of the Vivekananda Kendra ...... 699 Emic and Etic Literature on the Vivekananda Kendra ...... 699 The Origins and Development of the Vivekananda Kendra ...... 700 Vivekananda Kendra’s Yoga Way of Life ...... 702 Conclusion ...... 703 Yogananda and the Self-Realization Fellowship ...... 704 Early Life in India ...... 704 Traveling ...... 705 Autobiography of a Yogi and Intersections ...... 705 Self-Realization Fellowship: Then and Today ...... 709 Conclusion ...... 711

Appendix Devadāsīs/Courtesans ...... 715 Courtesans between Power, Shame, and Fame ...... 715 Power: The Eye of the Beholder ...... 716 Power: A Logic of Practice ...... 717 Between Shame and Fame: Shame ...... 720 Between Shame and Fame: Fame ...... 722 Power Revisited ...... 723 Hinduism and Dravidian Identity ...... 725 The First Key Moment: The Separation of Brahmans and Non-Brahmans ...... 726 The Second Key Moment: Linking Dravidian Ideology with Tamil Śaivism and Śaiva Siddhānta ... 728 The Indigenization of Dravidian Ideology ...... 728 P. Sundaram Pillay (1855–1897) ...... 729 J.M. Nallaswami (1864–1920) ...... 730 (1876–1950) ...... 731 Feminism ...... 734 The Woman Question ...... 734 Catalyst by Elite Men ...... 734 Women’s Voices ...... 737 Post-Independence and Post-colonial Feminisms: Methods and Issues ...... 741 Nature and Praxis of Feminism ...... 742 Interventions ...... 743 Nationalism ...... 750 Early Developments ...... 750 Who Is a Hindu? ...... 753 The ...... 755 Conclusion ...... 758 Politics and Media ...... 760 Media and Religion in Colonial India ...... 760 Media Theory and Practice in the Era of National Independence ...... 761 A New Phase of Hinduism? ...... 764 Mediatic Differences and Linguistic Divisions ...... 766 Conclusion ...... 767

Glossary ...... 771 Sections for Future Volumes ...... 775 Devadāsīs/Courtesans

Courtesans between Power, Shame, (Nevile, 1996, 43–63). Thus the reception of their and Fame presence swung from adventurous discoveries to exotic fairy tales, from luxurious hedonism to Devadāsī (slave of god) ranks among the most moral indignation mixed with uneasy shame, and controversial and powerful incentives of Western finally to a retrograde reification of a noble past fantasies about the East. As “container term,” it that was in essence “spiritual,” eagerly shared by came to frame nearly all women working in the local and global audiences. Indian public sphere, both sacred and secular; This article aims to draw a map that allows the thereby it obliterated large differences in regional, reader to travel through these different landscapes historical, social, and professional hierarchies. of cultural validation through time and space as Other terms that have been very productive his- seen from changing perspectives. Our journey torically are the Sanskrit gaṇikā (precious, courte- sets off from the curious eye of early travelers, san) and the Anglicized nautch (from Skt. nat-̣ , “to exploring the globe in search of wealth and the dance”). The encounter among Western travelers’, unknown. It detects women in the public spheres missionaries’, colonizers’, and Indian courtesans’ of Hindu temples and royal courts surrounded lifestyles produced highly divergent stereotypes by power and luxury. On the Indian side, power

Fig. 1: Devadāsīs in oriental imagination (anonymous, by courtesy of Saskia Kersenboom).

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2013 BEH, vol. V Also available online – www.brill.com 716 Devadāsīs/Courtesans is the core concept that legitimizes these female the spread of were major concerns specialists. In the course of time, this core frag- in Chinese records. Herodotus, the Greek his- ments into three incompatible perspectives. The toriographer, describes India as the “wealthi- first perspective attempts to continue “power” est and most populous country on the face of as a logic of practice (Bourdieu, 1995, 80–98); the earth.” Luxury articles included gold, silver, even after the collapse of the last major Hindu ivory, pearls, precious stones, , herbs, Empire of → in 1565 ce, this logic apes, elephants, and fancy birds like peacocks. was perpetuated by minor kingdoms and feudal Silk was in great demand, and the smuggling of a patronage. Side by side, two new perspectives, silkworm from China makes a spectacular story. shame and fame, emerge from colonial encoun- Marco Polo offered the first medieval European ters. The former perspective shifts from sedentary eyewitness testimony. Around 1283 ce he passed missionaries and later colonizers who critiqued through on his way from Mongolia devadāsī lifestyles as loathesome, to Indian, to Persia, escorting a princess of the Kublai Khan Western-educated elites who tried to eradicate family on her bridal journey. Back in his native these and other indigenous cultural practices in Venice, he wrote his Livre des merveilles du monde utter embarassment and overall shame. In defense telling tales of luxury and social and religious cus- of this foreign, perspective the professional voice toms in (what is present-day) , where of devadāsīs took the form of organized protest he witnessed cow worship, abstinence from meat, and legal campaigns. Their resistance to gradual self-sacrifice to the gods, self-immolation, and disempowerment must form part of general his- dedication of courtesans to temple service. The tory as it continues even today (Jordan, 2003, next wave of information on India and further 1–15). This process of “cultural cleansing” was Asia is told in the 15th century ce by travelers initiated in the 19th century as the Self-Respect and merchants such as the Persian ʿAbd al-Razāq, Movement and finally resolved by Indian, legal the Venetian Niccolò de’ Conti, and the Russian proscription. The latter perspective of fame traces Afanasy Nikitin (also known as Athanasius the orientalist figuring and refiguring ofdevadāsī s. Nikitin). Let us have a look at a few of these Our journey will focus first on the Western imagi- individual tales: nations nurtered by European travelogues. These ʿAbd al-Razāq, on reaching the temple at tales triggered romantic visions that found their Belur, notes, “In this temple morning and eve- way into Western literature, opera, and dance. ning, after devotional excercises . . . they play on Late colonial and postcolonial contexts translated musical instruments, perform concerts and give devadāsī arts into purified, devotional, and spiri- feasts” (Major, 1885, vol. I, 22). On reaching tual temple → dance. This form was made acces- Vijayanagar, which he calls Bidyanagar, he sible to a general public as bharatanātyaṃ around describes courtesans in the palace area: the time of the Madras Devadasi Act, 1947; this law forbade dedication of women to temples and Opposite . . . is the house of the Governor, their ritual labor. The conflation of the perspec- where are stationed twelve thousand soldiers tives of shame and fame marks the emergence of a as a guard, who receive every day a payment of “virtual devadāsī” both at home and in the Indian twelve thousand fanom, levied on the receipts diaspora. This novel dancer came to represent of the houses of prostitution. The magnificence “Hinduism in a nutshell” and India’s spiritual of places of this kind, the beauty of the young identity on a new global stage (O’Shea, 2009). girls collected therein, their allurements and their coquetry surpass all description . . . Each of these women is bedecked with pearls and gems Power: The Eye of the Beholder of great value, and is dressed in costly raiment. They are all extremely young, and of perfect What did the earliest travelers see? Foreign beauty. Each of them has by her two young accounts on South India emerge already in 10th slaves, who give the signal of pleasure, and century bce in Phoenician sources, to be followed have the charge of attending to everything that can contribute to amusement. (Major, 1885, by Greek, Persian, Roman, and Arab sources vol. I, 29) in Europe, the Middle East, and a steady flow of Asian records (Major, 1885, v–xc). → Trade While attending a festival, which is probably opportunities determine the focus of these today’s navarātri, ʿAbd al-Razāq describes ritual Western accounts, while cultural exchange and artists who perform various tasks: Devadāsīs/Courtesans 717 Between the palace and the pavillions, in an the 18th century ce as one of the first discoveries extremely beautiful situation, were musicians of Eastern, spiritual grandeur. Śrṇ gārȧ , or erotic and storytellers, who sang and invented tales. sentiment (see → rasa), is the basis for many of The part of musicians is generally filled by his courtly dramas. His Meghadūta (Cloud Mes- women. Some young girls, with cheeks as full senger) witnesses girls dedicated to temples in as the moon, and with faces more lovely than Ujjain. And in his Mālavikāgnimitra (Mālavikā the spring, clothed in magnificent dresses, and and Agnimitra), King Agnimitra falls in love showing features which, like the freshest rose, with a servant maid, who is trained as a dancer charmed every heart, were placed behind a at his court, but who is, in reality, an exiled prin- pretty curtain opposite the king. On a sudden cess in disguise. This denouement attests the fact the curtain was raised and again fell, and the that devadāsīs were an “open caste”: a professional damsels arranged themselves for the dance, group of performers empowered by matrilineal with a grace calculated to seduce every sense rights. Sanskrit sources state that a dāsī could be and captivate every mind. (Major, 1885, vol. I, 36–37) a girl given, sold, adopted, taken captive, kept, or dedicated (Kersenboom, 1987, 182). An earlier Niccolò de’ Conti, on visiting Vijayanagar, which playwright, Śūdraka, in his Mrcchakaṭ ikạ (Clay he calls Bizenegalia, and witnessing a yearly pro- Chariot) unfolds the love story of an orthodox cession, notes, Brahman, Cārudatta, who falls in love with a courtesan called Vasantasenā. Complex intrigues at certain time of the year, their idol is carried through the city, placed between two chariots, weave political power, wealth, infatuation, rivalry, in which are young women richly adorned, passion, and domestic happiness into a tale of who sing hymns to the god, and accompanied changing fortunes. Against all “common sense” by a great concourse of people. (Major, 1885, that Vasantasenā surely is after Cārudatta’s wealth, vol. II, 28) this courtesan gives her jewelry to Cārudatta’s son so that his little clay chariot (mrcchakaṭ ikạ ) can Afanasy Nikitin, during his stay at Beder (i.e. be replaced by a golden one. Her noble gesture Ahmedabad) in observes the hunting is thwarted and manipulated to look like theft expedition of the sultāṇ : by the father. Again, the courtesan Vasantasenā The sultan goes out hunting with his mother turns a noble character, rescuing Cārudatta from and his lady, and a train of 10,000 men on horse- execution, and thus saving his wife as well, all set back, 50,000 on foot; 200 elephants adorned to mount the funeral pyre of her husband to be in guilded armour, and in front one hundred burnt to death along his lifeless body (Glasenapp, horn-men, 100 dancers, and 300 common 1961, 238–242). horses in golden clothing, 100 monkeys, and The early centuries of the Common Era 100 concubines, all foreign (haurikies). (Major, yield normative works on the performing arts 1885, vol. III, 14) (Nātyaśāstrạ ), behavior (→ Dharmaśāstras), wealth (Arthaśāstra; see → artha), and eros (Kāmasūtra; Hindu processions and royal display form a see → kāma); these texts are composed in recurring theme in foreign travelogues. I will Sanskrit but their dual approach offers main return to these outdoor, public appearances and stream (mārga) and local (deśī) applications their changing reception later. Their private logis- (Kersenboom, 1989, 187–205). → Vernacular tics, though, remained hidden to the public eye, as languages like Tamil, the oldest representative they were situated indoors, embedded in temple of the Dravidian languages, produce their own ritual and court culture. literature and normative works but are obviously familiar with their Sanskrit counterparts. Tamil’s earliest grammar, the Tolkāppiyam, refers to the Power: A Logic of Practice lyrical (akam) and heroic (puram̱ ) poetry com- posed between 100 and 300 ce (Zvelebil, 1975, In contrast to the scant information about dancing 69–77), and both genres offer abundant references girls in early foreign sources, indigenous sources to performing artists, male and female. A close offer rich, variegated data. The Sanskrit dramas study of some 50 types of → bards in these early of Kālidāsa, poet at the Gupta court during the works situates them in the public sphere, centered 4th and 5th centuries ce, reached the West in around the king: around his love life, court, fame, 718 Devadāsīs/Courtesans and exploits at war, and at times even ritual events called → (see → Nāyanārs;̱ see → Ālvārs).̱ Just are mediated by bardic specialists (Kersenboom, like the bards of old, they traveled the Tamil land 1981, 19–42). Among these various bards, the to stop at sacred places and sing in ardent praise female virali̱ (skilled one) and pātiṇ i̱ (songstress) of the local manifestations of their beloved god- are the earliest Tamil antecedents to the later king. Their songs have been handed down as the devadāsī. Their arts of song and dance are not Tirumurai̱ and Nālāyira Tivya Pirapantam and mere entertainment; rather, they deliver efficacy are recited, even today, in temples for Śiva and of power and valiance to the king and his country, for Visṇ u,̣ respectively. The trail of the devadāsī clan, forefathers, and victorious bravery in battle. alias gaṇikā reemerges in this context. One of A mutual debt (kataṇ )̱ forges a formal tie between the sacred bards devoted to Śiva was Cuntarar the king and his bards. The immediate follow-up (8th cent. ce). His story is told in the Periyapurāṇam of this clan-oriented universe is the world of the (The Great Legend) on the lives of the 63 Nāyanārs.̱ first Tamil epics, the Cilappatikāram (The Tale The bond between Śiva and his devotee is one of of the Anklet) and the subsequent Maṇimēkalai intense, personal love; yet, it also left space for (The Jewel Belt). Both stories involve poetry, earthly love between Paravai, a temple dancer, music and dance, kings, queens, and courtesans. and Cuntarar. The Periyapurāṇam offers inter- The date of these late bardic works is disputed but esting details: although Paravai belonged to the generally accepted as between 450 and 550 ce. Uruttirakanikaị (Skt. Rudraganikā),̣ and Cunta- Mātavi, the courtesan in the Cilappatikāram, is rar to the Brahman Āticaiva (Skt. Ādiśaiva) caste, said to originate from Indra’s heaven. At the both were tied to the Śiva temple of Tiruvarur in age of 12, she makes her debut as a kaṇikai a ritual bondage called atimaị (slavery). This pas- (Skt. gaṇikā) in the presence of the king. Her skills sage provides the first reference to a ritual dedi- in music, dance, and the arts of refined elegance cation of women to temples. Such sacred bond resonate with the Nātyaśāstrạ and the 64 arts precluded a civil human marriage – a custom that listed in Kāmasūtra. By way of professional rec- was honored until the Madras Devadasi Act of ognition, she receives a garland of 1,008 golden 1947. Therefore, Śiva interfered personally and coins from the king’s hands. After the ceremony ordered that Paravai should be given in marriage Mātavi has this royal token auctioned to the to Cuntarar (Kersenboom, 1987, 183). The refor- highest bidder, and Kōvalan,̱ the wealthy - mulation of bardic dancers and singers continues chant who buys the garland, becomes her lover. in the works of Mānikkavācakaṛ (9th cent. ce). However, the ardent love story turns into a bitter His love for Śiva takes him through the entire Tamil tragedy of jealousy, theft, betrayal, murder, and land but reaches its acumen in , the revenge. It is Kanṇ aki,̣ Kōvalan’s̱ lawful wife, who temple of the early Cholas where Śiva dances his reveals the injustice and avenges the death of her ānandatāṇḍava (dance of bliss). In his collection husband by setting fire to the town of Madurai, of hymns, the Tiruvācakam (Holy Utterance), which earns her the divine status of a fierce but just Mānikkavācakaṛ offers us for the first time an goddess. This prototype of female, divine power accurate description of girls serving in temples underlies the central argument of this article. and their ritual tasks (Kersenboom, 1987, 22–24). Another remarkable undercurrent is an emerg- The hymn Tiruporcuṉ ̣ṇam (Holy Gold Dust) ing ethics opposed to music, dance, and courte- depicts mankai̇ s (girls of the age group 12–13) san lifestyles. Both epics cast Jaina and Buddhist who have auspicious eyes, wear a row of bracelets monks as moral support and counsel, guiding all and pearls that cover their heaving bosom, and wayward characters onto the path of truth. have shoulders adorned with holy ashes. Their In contrast to Buddhist and Jaina ethics, devo- work resembles the ritual tasks of devadāsīs: they tional Hinduism initiated another turn from the suspend and place the mulaikkuṭ aṃ 7th century ce onward. Erecting temples in stone (germ pot), tūpam (Skt. dhūpa, ), and to serve images of distinct Hindu gods like → Śiva tīpam (Skt. dīpa, lamp), while they sing songs for and → Visṇ ụ was coeval with the victory of the the Great Goddess (→ Mahādevī) named Cakti Pallava rulers over occupation of the South by (“Power”), Cōmi (“Benovelence”), and Pārmakal ̣ the Buddhist Kalabhra dynasty (Nilakanta Sastri, (“Earth”). Their close relationship to these three 1955, 139). New bards emerged to empower their aspects of the Great Goddess adds critical mass favorite deities to reign like supreme god-kings. to the undercurrent of the devadāsī as fulcrum Loyalty took the shape of “melting devotion,” of female, divine efficacy. The Tirupoṟcuṇṇam Devadāsīs/Courtesans 719 describes their processional rituals that resem- was spread out over real landscapes, both geo- ble devadāsī routines until the first half of the graphical and political. As cakravartin the king 20th century ce. This hymn is not the only overt is identified as the microcosmic god incarnate, reference to the presence and ritual tasks by ruling from the center. A great number of ritual devadāsīs: other songs like the Tirutelḷ ēṇ ̣am specialists assisted him to maintain sacred and (Tambour Song), Tirucālaḻ (Question and secular power – among them, the purohita as his Answer Game), Tiruppūvalli (String of Flow- counselor and the devadāsī/gaṇikā as his concrete ers), Tiruttōṇōkkam (Shoulder Dance) were connection to the Great Goddess. performed by devadāsīs until 1947. Many of Power as a logic of practice tied kings to the them are still found in folk songs, dances, and dynamic power of the Great Goddess. Royal will games. Other hymns in Tiruvācakam like the had to be sanctioned by the local temple of the Tirupponṉ ūcaḻ (Golden Swing), Tiruppalḷ iyeḷ ucci̱ Great Goddess, who symbolizes dynamic power (Rising from Sleep), and Tiru Ammānai̱ (Ball (→ śakti). Śakti is the hallmark of tantric theology Game) go back to the earliest bardic poetry. They and its symbolism molds tantric ritual (Gupta, form a bridge between the earliest Tamil textual 2013, 297–302). From the center of his domain, layers and recent oral histories among former the king could rule over the world of mortals and temple devadāsīs (Kersenboom, 1991, 131–149). demons while staying aligned with the divine The local, devotional turn of Tamil Hinduism realms. The metaphor of the cakravartin ener- coincided with another pan-Indian movement gized by the power of the Great Goddess reached that emerged powerfully in the South. → , its greatest expansion during the Chola dynasty. Śākta, and siddha (Tam. cittar) traditions prob- “The capture of Tanjore by king Vijayalaya, some ably had earlier precursors but are evident in the time before 850 ce, and his founding of a temple Tamil area by the 7th century ce (Gupta, Hoens there to the goddess Nishumbhasudini (Durga) & Goudriaan, 1979, 13–47) with manuscripts were the first steps in the rise of Chola power” on ritual, → meditation, worship, and alchemy (Nilakanta Sastri, 1955, 166). In the course of four (→ rasāyana) in Sanskrit as well as in Tamil. The hundred years, Chola conquests reached the river oldest Sanskrit tantric texts may go back to 800 ce, Gangā̇ and Southeast Asia. Numerous temples while the oldest Tamil cittar sources point to the were built to commorate these valiant successes; mystic saint Tirumūlar (see → Nāyanārs),̱ whose their walls carry abundant inscriptions that state date is probably the 7th century ce. Worship of the names and deeds of women connected to the Great Goddess is probably much older than these temples. The Tamil tēvatāci/tēvaratiyāṛ written testimonies; however, it blends seemlessly (i.e. devadāsī) is but one of their many functional with tantric modes of worship. Here the divine is terms employed at the time (Kersenboom, 1987, considered to be a dualis, a blissful, undifferenti- 28). Four hundred temple women were installed ated union (ānanda) of god and goddess. As Śiva- in the Brhatīśvarạ Temple at as “one Śakti, they figure as transcendent source of cosmic grand royal gesture” (Orr, 2000, 173). creation and return. Tantra offers a twofold path: Royal conquest of the four directions one of individual, metaphysical transformation (digvijaya) involved a fire sacrifice () after (mukti) and one of mundane realization of power which the king proceeded around the theoretical over the material world (bhukti). Meditation perimeter of his realm, only to return to his point (→ yoga), daily ritual worship (→ pūjā), and profi- of origin, thereby transforming it into his royal ciency (siddhi) in alchemy form part of systematic capital and the centre of his universe (White, tantric methods to achieve these two aims. This 2003, 125). Thus, Rājarāja aCōḻ I undertook a composite system became extensively supported naval expedition in 1025 against the kingdom of by successive royal dynasties from the Pallava Srivijaya, covering the areas now known as Malay- kings onward. It casts the king as cakravartin sia, Sumatra, and Java. His victory secured the sea (“he who turns the wheel of his kingdom or empire routes from India to China well into the 11th cen- from its center” as well as “he whose chariot has tury. It laid out a semantic map for understanding rolled around its perimeter without obstruc- tantric ritual, its logic of power, the Great Goddess, tion”; White, 2003, 124). The wheel (→ cakra) of and devadāsīs in a much larger, continuous Asian his dominion was imagined as a “mesocosmic perspective. Thus the central motif of divine as a template” (maṇḍala) among the three worlds of dualis emerges in India and in Bali as “Siva, the gods, mortals, and demons. At the same time, it Supreme God and Sakti his wife” (Gupta, 2013, 720 Devadāsīs/Courtesans 304). Their relationship is represented in abstract victorious manifestation of the Great Goddess way by a phallus (Śiva’s → lingȧ ) emerging from a and her erotic merger with Śiva was expressed vulva (Śakti’s → yoni). Since it is the Great God- publicly by large scale processions and ritual dess who generates life in all concrete forms, even drama enacting royal authority. This festival of Śiva becomes manifest through her creative act. navarātri and its concluding vijayadaśamī figures until today as a litmus test for power and devadāsī At the bottom . . . sekti [Śakti] rests on a dis- contributions to an indigenous cultural paradigm tinctive view of how the divine gets into the as well as its decline. world; and most particularly . . . of the rela- tion between, on the one hand, the subsistent In 1510, the Portuguese traveller Domingo “forms” or “shapes” the divine takes . . . and, Paes recorded the grandeur of its concluding fes- on the other hand, the dynamic “manifesta- tivities in Vijayanagar, which he calls Bisnaga. The tions” . . . that, in those forms and through those merger of a divine idol, the king, his sovereign shapes it variously has. . . . The king, the lord, the power symbolised by the horse on which he was priest, and the ascetic . . . royal regalia, priestly sworn, a procession through the town, and his ritual objects, sacred heirlooms, and holy places return to the palace created a symphony of power are all sekti in the same sense: they display the display. All rituals are marked by female presence; power the divine takes on when it falls into par- the closing rites intensified the ritual character of ticular shapes. (Geertz, 1980, 106) their labor: In conclusion, power as a logic of practice was you will see insuing from inside twenty-five spread over major parts of Asia. Its explicit mani- or thirty female door-keepers, with canes in festations of warfare, royal display of luxury, and their hands and whips on their shoulders; and eros were evident for foreign travelers; its implicit then . . . come many women playing trumpets logic of creative dominance, vitality, and equili- and drums and pipes . . . and viols, and many bration of male and female sexual forces both on other kinds of music, and behind these women the secular and sacred plane remained hidden will come some twenty women-porters . . . and from their inquisitive eyes. Moreover, as we will close to them women (who) carry in their hands see it escaped the frames of their imagination vessels of gold . . . inside these are some loops and comprehension. The moment these frames made of pearls fastened with wax, and inside became dominant frames the phenomenon of all this is a lighted lamp. They come in regular order one before the other, in all perhaps sixty the devadāsī/gaṇikā suffered irreparable refigur- women fair and young, from sixteen to twenty ing and dislocation. years of age. (Sewell, 1980, 269–273) The burning fire atop a (water) pot highlights Between Shame and Fame: Shame the core competence of devadāsīs. Its efficacy is deeply rooted in tantric ritual. Waving the pot- This ancient logic that connects power, the king, lamp (kumbhāratī; Tam. kumpārati) over gods, warfare, victory, Śakti and devadāsīs as her female kings, and patrons to cleanse them of the evil eye emanations, reigned supreme until the 16th century. was singled out by the Madras Devadasi Act as “Vijayanagar was perhaps the nearest approach their characteristic labor. Maintenance of power to a war-state ever made by a Hindu kingdom” does not require valiance just at war, fighting an (Nilakanta Sastri, 1955, 295). However, power as a actual enemy. Power presupposes balancing cos- logic of practice continued during colonial times mic forces on a daily basis. Demons and antigods in feudal domains and arguably even beyond. are ever active, eager to take over the microcosmic The recurrent festival of navarātri (nine nights) and macrocosmic order. Here, the logic of power celebrates Śakti in nine different consecutive takes concrete shapes: while the goddess Durgā manifestations: as enchantress, ascetic, girl, lover, empowers kings with her own cosmic victories nature, protectress, healer, sovereign, and savior. over various demons and antigods, devadāsīs On the concluding day, vijayadaśamī (victori- as her mortal embodiments can empower and ous tenth) Śakti is mounted on a horse joined by destroy as well; the force of burning fire, atop a Śiva on her right side (see Arulmikụ Peruvutaiyāṛ waterpot, held by a dedicated devadāsī constitutes Tirukkōyil: Navarāttiri Kaliyāṇavila̱ Alaippitta̱ , an efficacious triple synonym of the goddess who 2012). The ritual identification of the king with the supports life over death. Her beauty, eros, and per- Devadāsīs/Courtesans 721 forming arts are an affirmation of vitality, fertility, cultural exchange, are the hallmark of this court. and growth. The sheer presence of such women Palace records attest four major contexts for brings luck as a nityasumangalī̇ (ever auspicious devadāsī performance: “(1) calendrical festivals, female; Kersenboom, 1984; Marglin, 1985; see (2) festivals at temples administered by the Tan- also → auspiciousness). jore court . . ., (3) darbars held in honor of visiting This positive validation of royal splendor and company officials, and (4) private celebrations for tantric ritual that centered around a fierce, vic- members of the royal household” (Soneji, 2012, torious goddess became gradually discredited 43). Among these, figures the festival ofnavarātri , from the 17th century onward. The collapse of the concluded by the sīmollanghanȧ (crossing the Vijayanagara Empire coincided with arrival of boundary) ritual: Dutch, English, Danish, German, and Portuguese “crossing the boundary (of the kingdom),” was trade missions. Their long-term, mercantile inter- a ritual in which the king and his retinue would ests in colateral relations resulted in the arrival of travel to the extremity of the kingdom and ritu- missionaries and administrators and the rise of ally overstep its boundary. As a mark of aggres- acute cultural dissonants on matters discussed sion and defensiveness, the ritual dramatized so far. One century later, the French missionary both a willingness to engage in battle, and the Abbé J.A. Dubois recorded the festival of navarātri protective surveillance of the kingdom by its as a “soldiers’ feast,” in short, a “disgusting spec- sovereign . . . After the king returned from the tacle” (Dubois, 1978, 569–570); processions and sīmollanghanȧ , courtesans would wave a lamp devadāsīs evoked in him a “picture of hell”: before him (āratī) to ward off evil eye dr( ṣ ṭ i-̣ pariharaṇa), and a dance performance would The processions advances slowly. From time to follow. (Soneji, 2012, 42–43) time a halt is made, during which a most fright- ful uproar of shouts and cries and whistlings is Farther south in Tamil Nadu, Bhaskara Sethu- kept up. The courtesans, who are present in great pathi, king of Ramnad, made other choices to numbers on these solemn occasions, perform chisel a new image of royalty. His early educa- obscene dances; while as long as the procession tion with British tutors at government schools in continues, the drums, trumpets, and all sorts of Madras inspired his vision of “gentleman Zamin- musical instruments give forth their discordant dar” combining traditional largess (Tam. valḷ aḷ ) sounds . . . But in order to form a proper idea of with modern values like abstinence from alcohol the terrible uproar and confusion that reigns and prevention of cruelty to animals. His meet- among this crowd of demoniacs one must wit- ings at the Carnatic Masonic Lodge in Madras ness such a scene. As for myself, I never see a () fit into his broader spiritual interests Hindu procession without being reminded of a and revivalist fervor for Hindu values and ritual picture of hell. (Dubois, 1978, 604–605) worship. His diary shows serious inclusion in His understanding of Hindu ritual casts devadāsīs both universes. Success meant to him “mobilisa- as “prostitutes . . . consecrated in a special manner tion of respect in the public sphere” (Price, 1996, to the worship of the divinities of India” (Dubois, 161–189). His innovations in the celebration of 1978, 585). Moreover, he abhorred the codes of navarātri between 1892 and 1894 are a case in politeness that dictated the presence of a number point on two counts: the nature of the goddess with of these ritual women during any formal visit by a whom he should identify, and the ritual presence person of distinction. of devadāsīs throughout the festival. The Madras Indian royalty reacted differently to such and Times covered the celebrations of 1892. Most similar normative descriptions of their cultural striking is his ritual identification with his lineage practices. Colonial domination reduced their and the family goddess Rājarājeśvarī, the pinnacle actual power gradually to mere symbolic sovereig- of tantric deities (see → Śrīvidyā). For this occasion nity. Throughout the 17th, 18th, and 19th centu- the image of the goddess was shown in the form of ries ce, the royal houses of Thanjavur responded the eight-handed Durgā, or Mahisāsuramardinị̄ with an intensification of their historic symbolic (“Slayer of the Buffalo Demon”). She was placed capital by concentrating fully on the rich cultural on an emerald seat that represented both the amalgam within the confines of their reduced concentrated power of the goddess and the tro- autonomy. Codification of South Indian music phy of war with Mysore. Nine clay pots holding and dance, in an environment of creative inter- earth and nine metal pots holding water were 722 Devadāsīs/Courtesans facing her. Between the two, the image of the Precolonial Saiva Siddhanta was the doctrinal goddess and the pots, King Bhaskara Sethupathi base of ritual practice in the great temples of performed ritual worship to both sets of pots as Tamil country and included tantric elements emblems of Śakti. A royal sword and scepter were which had created openings for the inclusion of presented by the priest during the worship of devadasis in ritual practice. (Price, 1996, 154) the pots: “he who contained sakti, represented by In 1894, Bhaskara Sethupathi decided that he the pitam, deserved to rule” (Price, 1996, 143–146). wanted to change the ferocious (ugra) aspect of An indoor procession to the Ramalinga Vilasam his family goddess Rājarājeśvarī, requiring animal palace was held in grand style: devadāsīs from dif- sacrifice. Her manifestation as Durgā was to be ferent temples under his rule came first, joined changed into her benign forms like → Pārvatī and by their musicians. A rich following featured → Sarasvatī. All priests refused, afraid to arouse the nākasvaram (Tam.; Skt. nāgasvara, “sound of the anger of the ferocious goddess. Theśan karācāryȧ snake”) players from various parts of the Madras of Sringeri, however, was up to this task and will- Presidency, the palace band of British and Carnatic ing only after Mahākālī (see → Kālī) appeared to music, lancers marching in military order, temple him in a dream and gave her approval. The ritual officials, special guests, and finally the king and his diagram under the goddess was changed and ani- royal relatives. The evening worship showed Śrī mal sacrifice was eleminated; thus, the goddess Rājarājeśvarī once more as Mahisāsuramardinī,̣ became saumya, pacified. Other changes included flanked by other goddesses. Arrows were conse- the banishment of dancing girls as reported by the crated at the feet of the goddess, given to the king, reformist Madurai Mail. A “fitting” replacement and then returned to the priest. Animal sacrifices was found: followed. Similar worship ran for eight nights. “Baskara had been recognised as the chief devo- A coloured boat mounted on a carriage with tee of the Goddess; now he had to carry out his two boatmen seated therein, a beautifully deco- responsibilities” (Price, 1996, 145). This duty of rated chariot, the figure of two girls facing each defending cosmic harmony (→ dharma) and slay- other with their feet fixed on a pivot over a cart ing the demons of chaos took a concrete shape and making rapid circles. (Price, 1969, 156) on the victorious tenth day: the ritual of shoot- The king himself offered another innovation: his ing the consecrated arrows. Bhaskara Sethupathi, public lecture on the seventh day advocated the mounted on the state elephant, proceeded with necessity for religious studies, the rationale for great pomp to the battlefield; upon arrival there “” in Hinduism, and the expansion of the he circumambulated the ritual area, paying obei- theosophical movement (see → Theosophical Soci- sance to the assembled gods and goddesses. And ety) to serve the “spiritual regeneration of India” under the guidance of the chief priest, he shot the (Price, 1969, 157). His profound revelation was arrows. A most festive darbār (royal assembly) the importance of → ātman, a key concept in spiri- was held that evening and the following days. tual discourse, derived and popularized through Royal relations once again prostrated themselves Western study of Sanskrit classics. and swore loyalty to the king. Sports, firework dis- plays, and nautch parties were held for two days. Generosity was shown on a large scale. Between Shame and Fame: Fame Two years later Bhaskara Sethupathi made dif- ferent choices. His political sensitivities alerted When the East India Company was granted its him to the developments of and charter in 1600 ce, collective European imagina- the non-Brahman movement (see → Hinduism tions had already been ignited by earlier, fabu- and Dravidian identity). Moreover, his title of lous tales of discovery. In the following centuries mahārāja had been given to him by the gov- this celebratory trope inspired poetry, opera, and ernment of Madras for his enlightened activi- ballets. Goethe’s Der Gott und die Bayadere set ties. Other influences came from , a romantic example of a “noble” temple dancer. where activist → Arumuga Navalar (1822–1879) However, he emphatically turned away from cleansed → Śaiva Siddhānta from “low-caste” their tantric ritual practices like lingalayȧ (reab- usages, inspired by his reading and translating of sorption of the lingȧ in śakti; Kersenboom, 1987, the Bible into Tamil. 119–120), stating “. . . where the one mixes with Devadāsīs/Courtesans 723 the other . . .there fear takes hold of me as well figured as the inspiring muse for several of Mikhail as painful disgust. Therefore, once and for all, Fokine’s ballets, the most famous being Swan Lake for me the Linga is totally fatal” (Goethe, 1980, (1905) in her role as the dying swan. Her stardom 400). Public interest in devadāsīs as bayadères was such that she was the first ballerina to create culminated in their invited stage performances her own repertoire company and travel around touring throughout Europe (Bor, 2010, 13–53). the world. In 1924, the young Indian Theosophist Orientalist fantasies made academic and Rukmini Arundale Devi saw Anna Pavlova dance popular worlds meet in the dramatis persona of at Covent Garden while visiting London with the devadāsī. Opera and ballet cast the devadāsī her English husband. This was the beginning of almost invariably in a romantic love story. In the a haunting fascination that prompted her to see opera Lakmé (1836) by Léo Delibes she falls in many performances of Anna Pavlova in several love with a foreigner as the daughter of a Hindu continents. Gradually, Rukmini Arundale Devi priest. Georges Bizet (The Pearl Fishers, 1863) had only one wish: to be Anna Pavlova’s student composes his opera Les pêcheurs de perles (1863) (Samson, 2010, 70–72). The death of her teacher around Leila, a temple priestess and secret lover of turned Rukmini Arundale Devi’s passion for two men. These romantic scenarios run through dance to her own tradition: the music and dance similar passions, bloodshed, and reunion. The by devadāsīs, who were by then still performing in Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev (1872–1929) the temples of Tamil Nadu. Her inclusion in the produced several oriental, romantic ballets set in → Theosophical Society, however, set the stage for Indian temples. The best known is La Bayadère a revival of devadāsī dance away from the temple. (1877) where the temple dancer Nikiya surrenders In 1935, Rukmini Arundale Devi, a 31 year old herself to death, rather than to be separated from Brahman girl from Tamil Nadu, performed catir, her lover Solor. The two are united in a realm of the usual name for devadāsī dance, in public. This the spirit, a nirvāṇa imagined in the mountains of marked her intent to revive the “purity of the art,” the Himalayas. In 1912, the enigmatic star dancer and proved that she could do without the tradi- Vaslav Nijinsky was projected as the god Krṣ ṇ ạ in tional, hereditary structures of music and dance Le Dieu Bleu. Once more the story evokes unfor- professionals (Allen, 2010, 205–253). Five years tunate lovers, this time a priest-to-be and his later she established in Madras (Chennai) the first beloved, a dancer, who tries to prevent his dedica- academy for Indian dance called Kalakshetra, tion to priesthood. Snakes and monsters set out to which would play a central role in relocating the kill the girl but miraculously the goddess appears dance to a new secular stage, and in generating a from a lotus in the temple tank and so does Krṣ ṇ a,̣ new social stratum of students, performers, and emerging from the waters and subduing evil by teachers, under the new name of bharatanātyaṃ . the sound of his flute (Shouvaloff, 1997, 71). This Its global diaspora as well as the local demise of choreography is one of the many exotic ballets devadāsī lifestyle was just a matter of time. by Mikhail Fokine (1880–1942) who was deeply interested in Greek and Egypt mythology. True to the demands of classical ballet his dancers wore Power Revisited pointe shoes, if necessary painted to look like feet and toes. A breakthrough in this formal aesthet- On Nov 26, 1947, the Madras government passed ics was caused by the revolutionary dancer Isa- the Devadasi Act, which outlawed the devadāsī as dora Duncan (1877–1927). This American born a cultural phenomenon. Three months earlier, on dancer caused a tidal wave in ballet by taking off August 15, the Tamil nākasvaram temple musi- her shoes, dancing barefoot, and whirling in free cian T.N. Rajaratnam Pillai, former colleague floating tunics. Her models were Greek and Egyp- of devadāsīs, had played the mangalȧ vādya (lit. tian imagery, liberating dance from the technical auspicious music) to inaugurate India’s Inde- constraints of classical ballet, and opening dra- pendence. “Jawaharlal Nehru told him ‘When I matic expression up to emotional depth and per- first saw you sitting over there, I thought you too sonal interpretation. On her arrival in Petersburg were a raja of some state.’ And naturally, since he she established a long term working relationship was given 10 minutes, he played for one hour” with Mikhail Fokine. (Jayashri & , 2007, 31). The new Indian, At this point Orientalism in dance, literature, centralized, class-based nation-state was but- and philosophy meet. Anna Pavlova (1881–1931) tressed by an idealist vision of India’s glorious past 724 Devadāsīs/Courtesans wherein lay the universal “essence” of Indianess. Gupta, S., D.J. Hoens & T. Goudriaan, Hindu Tantrism, The journey from the emergence of colonial dom- Leiden, 1979. inance to national freedom evolved along three Jayashri, B., & T.M. Krishna, Voices within Carnatic Music: Passing on an Inheritance, Bombay, 2007. alien tropes: discovery, civilization and rescue. Jordan, K., From Sacred Servant to Profane Prostitute, a They framed the rise and fall of devadāsī lifestyle History of the Changing Legal Status of the Devadasi in and their ritual paradigm of power, sacred and India, 1857–1947, Delhi, 2003. secular, energized by the Great Goddess. Our Kersenboom, S.C., Nityasumangali: Devadasi Tradition in journey continues, the story is not over yet. In his South India, Delhi, 1987, repr. 1998, 2002, 2011. The Discovery of India, Jawaharlal Nehru’s “uni- Kersenboom, S.C., “The Traditional Repertoire of the fied India is caught between the competing claims Tiruttani Temple Dancers,” in: J. Leslie, ed., Roles and Rituals for Hindu Women, London, 1991, repr. 2010, of tradition and modernity – and between its past 131–149. and future” (Singh, 1996, 13–14). Kersenboom, S.C., “Nityasumangali: Towards the Semio- This legacy of discovery takes ever new, sis of the Devadasi Tradition of South India,” diss., old shapes. 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