ISSUES

Gone with the devadasis Sakuntala Narasimhan

usic aficionados in be associated with the devadasis Bangalore were treated on and are now lost. 31 January 2014 to a day- M A unique drum, known variously long discussion and documentary as the chondke, chawandga or film on the Devadasi tradition of chandike, was handled only by the north Karnataka-Maharashtra devadasis. It was fascinating to border areas with a focus on the watch Radhabai (now elderly, but music of the devadasis, something young in the 1938 archival photo that that our cultural heritage lost with Prof. Catlin unearthed and followed the “cleaning up” of the tradition up when she began her research into of devadasis in the post-war years. the music of the devadasis) sing We came away from the film show while accompanying herself on the and the discussions that followed, instrument. It was held tucked under pondering the cultural entities that one arm while manipulating the stick got snuffed out and jettisoned during strung through the centre of a small and after colonial rule, in the name of cylindrical drum, inside which she “modernity”. created fantastic rhythm patterns Devadasis, literally meaning using her nimble fingers, to the “dedicated to the service of God,” accompaniment of a single stringed Radhabai were women artists and an essential tuntune (ektara), a drone played part of temple ensembles, particularly “devar-adiyaal” or devadasi, is to this by another woman. In a display of in south India. Their song and dance day a word of abuse in Tamil. extraordinary musical skill, the pitch recitals were part of the rituals of The British brought in legislation of the rhythm patterns changed with worship offered to the deities; and outlawing the system of dedicating the tension on the string attached to this meant that in a social milieu the girls to temples as devadasis, but the drum. homemaker women, especially from remnants of the custom linger. The film shows the police confiscating the upper castes and communities, What Professor Amy Catlin the instrument and penalising the were not allowed to take to music or Jairazbhoy has done through the devadasi women performing on dance as a full time pursuit. It was DVD she showed on 31 January it, because the law decrees such the devadasis who kept alive and is to zoom in on the cultural punishment. But as the woman nurtured music and dance traditions. loss, in the form of music and moans after the instrument is In the north, likewise, the tawaif, musical instruments, that used to snatched from her, “This is the end or courtesans, were the custodians of the chondke, nobody but we of the thumri and dadra genres, Amy Catlin Jairazbhoy plays it; now it is dead; this music and nobility used to gather at their is dead.” kothis to listen to their renderings, despite their homes being known as Can social “upliftment” mean artistic “houses of ill repute”. They never loss to a heritage? The Baul singers married, as devadasis were said to of Bengal use a drum similar to the be married to God. Over time, thanks chondke, but otherwise it is as good to the spread of Western ideas and as gone from our cultural history. culture, and the degeneration of the So is the collection of songs that institution of devadasis into women these women of yore presented. The recruited as mistresses by the wealthy, film includes some that are based they came to be seen as outcastes, on revolt (or at least questioning the and as disreputable women. The equation of devadasis with social word “thevadiyal”, a corruption of contumely).

42 l SRUTI April 2014 Long before feminism raised its head Ichalkaranji, Miraj, Kolhapur and fashion for upper class urban families as a global movement, these devadasi Sangli (Maharashtra) apart from rather than an art form preserved women sang songs of protest. Who the Bijapur area of Karnataka, but only by devadasis. But for initiatives preserves these elements of our the tradition of annual worship of like Prof. Catlin’s (which involved artistic corpus, who sifts the cultural Goddess Ellamma and Renukadevi is research spread over 15 long years, from the social dimensions, to look still seen as a social aberration that and much travel – including a trip into what ragas these devadasi calls for “education” of the rustics to locate a rare photo of a devadasi songs used, what rhythms and what who participate in the rituals and taken by a European, in 1938 – with instruments? Extending this question festivities. Are we, perhaps, confusing the support of the American Institute to a larger canvas, what happens the corruption of a hoary ritual with of Indian Studies and the University when so-called primitive instruments a perceived decline in its cultural of California at Los Angeles), we used by tribals or other marginalised worth? And throwing out the baby would perhaps not even be aware communities disappear during the with the bathwater? of such lost traditions. I came away process of “modernisation” and their T. Balasaraswati, the eminent from the day-long discussions with assimilation into the urban milieu? dancer, was from the devadasi the strains of ragas Sivaranjani and Will they be preserved for posterity community. So was T. Brinda who Bheempalasi rendered by Radhabai only in some Smithsonian or other nurtured and passed on her treasure and her troupe lingering in my mind. museum? of padam compositions. They were Also confronting me were some There are mythological stories both Sangita Kalanidhis, recipients sociological posers that those of us straddling the divide between the arts associated with this music too: of the highest accolade in south Parasurama created the chondke from Indian music. Rukmini Devi Arundale and sociology need to look into. the skull of a vanquished evil king. elevated Bharatanatyam to a level (The author is a feminist scholar with It is also seen in areas like where learning dance became a doctorates in sociology and classical music)

43 l SRUTI April 2014