DEVA-DASA.
Ffierodulas of BABYLON. Murali, . . . . MArm.. Dancing girls, . . ENG. Balladeiras, . . PORT. Temple „ . , „ Basava, . . . . TEL.
Bayadere, . . . FR. Jogin, Bhavia, . . „ To the temples of Venus in Western Asia, and in later times in Greece, large bodies of hierodulm were attached, who were at once prostitutes and ministers to the goddess. The daughters of the most illustrious families in Armenia passed from the service of the goddess Anaitis into matrimony with those of equal rank, and no stain adhered to them from their former mode of life. We find traces of the same usage in the distant settlements of the Phcenicians on Mount Eryx, and at Sicca Venerea in the Carthaginian territory. In Babylon, no woman, of whatever rank, could escape the obligation of once prostituting herself in the temple of Mylitta. This debt once acquitted, as the necessary preliminary to marriage, they were ever afterwards faithful to its obligations, with whatever price they might be tempted. In Hindu mythology, the Deva-dasa are the courtesans of Swarga, the heaven of Siva. The earthly Deva dasa woinen, or dancing girls in attendance at the temples of the Hindu deities, by their name of Deva-dasa call themselves the servants or slaves of the god. Exodus xxxii. 19 tells us of the Israelites dancing in the presence of the idol which Aaron had made for them in the form of a calf, doubtless the Nandi bull, the vahan of Siva. of the Hindus of to-day, and dancing before the Hindu MO; is a daily rite, and takes place at every Hindu festival.
The temple women of the Hindus originally appear to have been intended for the gratifica tion of the Brahmans only, but they were, in some parts of India, obliged to yield to all who solicited them, though consecrated in a special manner to the worship of the Hindu gods. Every temple acconling to its size, entertains a band of them, 'to tho number of eight, twelve, or more. The service they perform consists of dancing and singing. The first they execute with grace,
though with lascivious attitudes and motions. Their chanting is generally confined to the ob scene songs which relate to some circumstance or other of the licentious lives of their gods. They perform their religious duties at the temple to whiclt they belong twice a day, morning and evening. They are also obliged to assist at all the public ceremonies, which they enliven with their dance and song. They are reared to this lifo from their infancy. They are ta,ken from any caste, and are not unfrequently of respectable birth. It is nothing uncommon to hear of pregnant women, in the belief that it will tend to their happy delivery, making a vow, with the consent of their husband, to devote the child then in the womb, if it should turn out a girl, to the service of the pagoda. And in doing so they imagine they are performing a meritorious duty. The life to which the daughter is destined brings no disgrace on the family. Until towards the middle of the 19th cen tury, these women were the only Hindu females iu India who might learn to read, to sing, and to dance. Such accomplishments belonged to diem exclusively, and were for that reason held by the rest of the sex in such abhorrence, that every virtuous woman would have considered the mention of them as an afFront. That feeling has now greatly changed. They are now very generally kept by the wealthier Hindu men. In some of the Hindu temples they are numerous. The temple of Kamakhya or Kamiclicha is sacred to Durga, the Sakti of Siva. It is built on a hill rising about 700 feet from the river Brahmaputra, just below Gowhatty. It is said that in former times there were 5000 young girls attached to the temple. In 1872 there were still some hundreds there. In an inscription on a slab in tho Bengal Asiatic Society's Museum, of date Samvat 32 of tho Gaur era, about a.n. 1174, mention is made of Bhava, Deva giving 100 damsels to a temple.