WUNRN
Devadasi - In Hinduism, the devadasi
tradition (ದೇವದಾಸಿ; “servant of god”) is a
religious tradition in which girls are “married” and dedicated to a deity (deva or devi) or to a temple and includes
performance of temple functions.
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Women's Feature Service
INDIA - LAST SURVIVING & ELDERLY
DEVADASIS OF TEMPLE DIETY
By Sarada Lahangir
Parasmani Devi,
78, is one of the last two surviving devadasis of
the famous 11th century Jagannath temple of Puri. (Credit: Sarada
Lahangir\WFS)
Puri (Women’s Feature
Service) – History lives in their eyes. “Married” to Lord Jagannath, these two
old women are considered to be ‘akhand soubhagyabati’ (never-to-be-widowed) and
part of a tradition that dates back a thousand years. Yet, today, they cannot
manage two daily meals for themselves.
Neglected and
ignored, Sashimani Devi, 89, and Parasmani Devi, 78, are the last surviving
‘devadasis’ of the famous 11th century Jagannath temple of Puri, a coastal town
in the state of Odisha. Despite their frailty, advanced age and ill-health,
they never forget to offer prayers to their ‘divine husband’. Sporting bangles
and vermilion on their forehead, like traditional Hindu married women, they
proudly proclaim, “Lord Jagannath lives within us.”
Ask Devadasi
Sashimani about her parents and she says she cannot remember their faces. “I
have heard that when I was three, my parents left me with Devadasi Labanya
Devi. I was brought up under her guidance and received training from her. From
that tender age I was told that I was born for Lord Jagannath and I married
Lord Jagannath at the age of eight, through a ‘sari bandha’ ceremony,” she
says.
Sashimani has been
participating in temple rituals since then and maintains that she feels the
presence of the Lord especially when she is in deep sleep, “Our relationship is
like that of any other married couple. We are connected by the thread of
eternal love.”
Devadasi Parasmani is
about 11 years younger than Sashimani, but she too cannot remember who brought
her to this temple. “I opened my eyes on the lap of my foster mother, Devadasi
Kundamani Devi. It was she who brought me up. She trained me to be a ‘devadasi’
when I turned seven,” she says. Parasmani does remember, however, repeatedly asking
her foster mother why there were no male members, like fathers and brothers,
around, and was informed that the “Lord was everything”. She recalls, her eyes
all alight, “At that age I could not comprehend this. Later, things became
clearer. From the moment I embraced the Lord in my soul at the age of seven, I
have never felt the absence of anybody in my life.”
Despite their divine
connection, the lives of these two women are unenviable. Sashimani Devi’s life
is confined to a small room in the home of her adopted son, Somanath Pujapanda,
at Dolamandap Sahi that lies across from the Eastern Lion Gate (Singhadwar) of
the 12th century temple. Two years ago, she fractured her legs after a
rampaging bull dashed into her. Since then, she has not been able to go to the
temple. Bedridden, she is now at the mercy of her adopted son. The monthly
old-age pension of Rs 300 (US$1=Rs 55.6) that she once got from the Sri
Jagannath temple administration, besides some ‘prasad’ (food offerings to the
deity), has been discontinued.
Parasmani Devi’s
situation is not much better. She has a small, dingy room at Basili Sahi, a
neighbourhood in Puri. She was supposed to get a pension of Rs 1,000 from the
state government and an additional pension of Rs 1,500 from the central
government, but payments have become very irregular, sometimes taking six
months or a year to arrive. This puts the old woman into many difficulties, “I
pay Rs 700 as rent for this room and I borrow money to pay it. Once my pension arrives,
it gets exhausted immediately because of all the re-payments to be made.”
Earlier, Parasmani
Devi would sing songs at the Jagannath temple, for which she would get some
‘prasad’, now, however, because of her advanced age she finds it difficult to
go to the temple every day, “It is about two kilometres away and I find it
impossible to walk four kilometres every day to get the ‘prasad’. So on some
days I manage without a meal.”
According to
tradition, the presence of a ‘devadasi’ at the temple is mandatory for special
occasions, and she is supposed to sing and dance before the Lord into the
night. It is believe that with this melodious harmony of song and dance, the
Lord goes to sleep. Only on attaining puberty can a girl become a ‘devadasi’,
and she generally remains unmarried throughout her life. While one group of
‘devadasis’ are known as Bhitar Gayani – singers of the sanctum sanctorum
Parasmani Devi – another group, known as the Bahar Gayani - Sashimani was one -
performed rituals outside the inner temple.
While the Bhitar
Gayani dance during the Badasinghara (bedtime ritual), the Bahar Gayani sings
devotional songs to appease the Lord during other functions. Apart from these
daily rituals, ‘devadasis’ also have a special role during the Jagannath
temple’s famous ‘rath yatra’ (car festival), the Navakalebara (when the wooden
bodies of the deities are changed every 14 years) and the Nanda Utsav, a
function that takes place the day after Janmashtami marking Lord Krishna
arrival in the home of his foster parents.
Reveals Soumendra
Muduli, an academic in Puri, “The Jagannath temple at Puri is the only Vishnu
temple in the country where women were allowed to perform specific rituals,
other than dancing and singing.”
Suryanarayan Rath
Sharma, a priest at the temple, explains that of the 36 ‘niyogs’ (or
associations of servitors, who perform the rituals), the seva done by the
‘devadasi’, or Mahari seva, was the only service where women had a big role to
play. “Without a woman, many rituals cannot be performed. ‘Devadasis’ are known
as Mahari, or Mahan Nari (distinguished women), because they are the human wife
of deities,” says Sharma. He insists that although ‘devadasis’ may have been
exploited elsewhere in
The Record of Rights
(RoR) of the Jagannath temple reveals that about a century ago there were
around 25 ‘devadasis’ in Puri. In 1956, the Orissa Gazette lists nine
‘devadasis’. By 1980, only four remained – namely Harapriya, Kokilaprava,
Parshmani and Sashimani. Now the last two are left.
The decline of this
tradition is believed to have begun in 1955, when the state government took
over the administration of the temple from the royal family, which continues to
play a prominent role in the performance of special rituals here.
Rabinarayan
Mohapatra, a servitor, blames the temple administration for the impoverished
state that the two women are in, “It is the moral responsibility of the temple
administrators to look after both the female servitors of Puri. After all, it’s
they who manage temple property.”
Sashimani’s adopted
daughter, Rupashree Mohapatra, agrees that the discontinuation of the tradition
is a positive step in terms of the rights of women, but she is saddened that a
rich creative legacy will also fade away with the passing away of Sashimani
Devi and Parasmani Devi. Observes Mohapatra, not a ‘devadasi’ herself but a
well-known performer of the Mahari form of temple dance, “I learnt the basics
of dance from Sashimani. When maa performed, people used to be mesmerised to
see her dedication to Lord Jagannath. Now her health is deteriorating by the
day and that should be of concern to everyone.”
Tragically, neither
woman has benefitted from being torchbearers of a tradition revered by the faithful
followers of Lord Jagannath. But they have no complaints. Their only wish, they
say, is to serve the Lord until their last breath.