30, September 2026

The Devadasi System in South India: Origins, Historical Transformation, and the Evolution of Government Intervention

VOLUME-12; ISSUE-9; SEPT-2026

Author(s): PATARLAPATI NAGARAJU

Authors Affiliations:

PATARLAPATI NAGARAJU

Research Scholar (SRF)

Osmania University, Telangana, India

DOIs:10.2015/IJIRMF/202609013     |     Paper ID: IJIRMF202609013


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The Devadasi system dedicated women to the ritual and artistic service of South Indian temples, and over more than a millennium it moved from a position of religious and cultural prestige to a hereditary structure of caste-based sexual exploitation. This article traces the origins of the practice in early medieval temple economies, examines its disruption under colonial rule and the reformist anti-nautch movement, and follows the arc of post-independence legislative intervention across Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. Particular attention is given to the persistence of the practice despite statutory prohibition, to the findings of government and civil-society surveys, and to the recently enacted Karnataka Devadasi (Prevention, Prohibition, Relief and Rehabilitation) Act, 2025, which marks a shift from a purely punitive framework to one grounded in rights and rehabilitation. The article argues that the system's endurance reflects not a failure of law alone but the deeper entrenchment of caste, poverty, and gender subordination that legislation has repeatedly struggled to dismantle, and it closes with recommendations for a more integrated policy response.

Devadasi, History, Transformation, Legislation, Anti-Nautch Movement.

PATARLAPATI NAGARAJU (2026); The Devadasi System in South India: Origins, Historical Transformation, and the Evolution of Government Intervention, International Journal for Innovative Research in Multidisciplinary Field, ISSN(O): 2455-0620, Vol-12, Issue-9, Available on –   https://www.ijirmf.com/

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