Also there is a specific violence associated with temples and dancing -hereditary practitioners also problematically refered to by the stigmatising term devadasis were criminalised for association with the temples and feudal courts. This denial is part of bharathanatyam history. Till date dancing in a temple is complicated for women like me from hereditary castes. Dalits are still disallowed from many temples. Most hindu temples today are also politically aligned right , donations fund right wing politics. Why should an atheist and communist dance there?

I know very well that this news too from Kerala is doing the rounds in the tone of "Atheist Muslim woman practising India's 'secular' cultural heritage been barred from dancing in Hindu temple". thenewsminute.com/article/bharat… While my sympathies lie with comrade Mansiya VP , I have questions too. As an atheist and communist, how does she feel about dancing reinvented Bharathanatyam ,that has a history of appropriation and cultural violence against it's original hereditary practitioners at it's core?

For a state with the greatest literacy rate , a large percentage of left inclined progressive people and a history of communist governments ruling the state -there are so many cases of dowry deaths and suicides due to domestic abuse from Kerala. Sad truth is that caste based endogamy,dowry,misogyny , patriarchy, communal bias, caste hegemony have all subconsciously thrived as "culture and tradition". Caste and religious majoritarianism are silently celebrated aspects of "INDIANNESS"!

For many women with courtesanal pasts in the Hindu religion, association with brahminism and the Hindu right has provided some relief, they have sometimes been able to practice their art and achieve success as artists. Lata Mangeshkar is an example of this. There are those who call her
"brahmin" &those that say she was from "devdasi"community. One needs to see it from the lens of the influence of Savarkar on her family, creation of gomantak maratha caste,her father's involvement in the nationalist project of Marathi natyasangeet..

The history of criminalisation of hereditary courtesan castes
should not be perceived through anecdotal historical debate references b/w Muthulakshmireddy, Sathyamurthy Iyer/figures from past.There needs to be analysis of the repercussions on formerly courtesan castes today! What has criminalisation done to the psyche of women from these castes? How was the reform carried out? Were there reparative and rehabilitative measures or safe spaces for women to pursue the art? Or were they simply erased or pushed to live in the margins?

Some practitioners have now started to begin Bharathanatyam performances with a Hereditary acknowledgement statement, which I think is maybe a good first step in acknowledging the problematic history of Bharathanatyam. I have personally had messages from some practitioners asking what kind of statement can be read out. For me, I am unable to put in words the violence & the repercussions of the violence women like me (from the castes where Bharathanatyam is appropriated from) continue to face .

Thevadiyal: You may have heard this word from your surroundings, from your peers, from your parents, from cinemas or anywhere else. This can be called the most offensive term used to disgrace a female in the Tamil language. Thevadiyal comes from the word, 'Devar Adiyar'(தேவர் அடியார்) in which 'devar' means god & 'adiyar' means servants of god. DevarAdiyars (also) Devadasis ( a term that became universal during reform discourse) were female artists who performed dance& music in royal courts& temples