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The rock cut cave temples of Badami were sculpted at a time when women were first incorporated into temple service, at the beginning of the bhakti movement. Bhakti has been called the Tamil renaissance and a bloodless revolution, but it is perhaps best described as a religious movement which ultimately transformed the social, political and religious landscape of India. The migration of considerable numbers of learned brahmins to South India in the third century set the stage for the bhakti movement. Although the details of the infiltration of power structures remain vague, brahmins soon became the custodian of Tamil shrines  and traditions, and brought with them the spread of settled agriculture. Brahmin dominance combined with new agriculture techniques lead to gradual changes in the structure and organisation of society. Forests were cut and tribesmen were subdued and taught to work the land. The blending of Brahmin and Tamil sangam traditions gave birth to the cult of the god kings, Shiva and Vishnu. These new gods quickly spread out from Tamil country to neighbouring territories in modern Karnataka and up through the rest of India. The dominant versions of Hindu mythology were set down in the puranas. The new gods and their families, friends and enemies became as real as human dynasties; the first icons were sculpted in stone and massive temples were constructed to house them.

Often, radical anti Brahmin rebels, the mystic poet-saints of bhakti rejected Brahminic tradition that only offered spiritual liberation to high caste men, and proclaimed that the path to liberation was open to all regardless of caste, creed and gender. By following the path of faith, women, shudras and even untouchables could aspire to spiritual release. Elite brahminical Sanskrit, the language of the few, was rejected in favour of vernacular languages. Borrowing, reworking and transforming Vedic as well as indigenous Tamil concepts, bhakti saints danced, wept and worshipped their way through South India. Accompanied by bands of ‘mad devotees’, they traveled from shrine to shrine exchanging their sacred hymns for payment. They forged pilgrimage routes across the countryside and converted kings, brahmins and peasants along the way. Song and dance became important elements of worship and eventually, female slaves were incorporated into temple ritual to chant and enact the hymns that the saints left behind. These female slaves were the predecessor of the women that would one day come to be called devadasis.

Excerpted from pages 28-30 of ‘Servants of the Goddess: the modern day Devadasi’ by Catherine Rubin Kermorgant.