devadasi

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English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Etymology

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From the Sanskrit देवदासी (devá-dāsī, female servant of a deity), from देव (devá, deity, god) and दासी (dāsī, a female servant or slave).

Noun

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devadasi (plural devadasis)

  1. (Hinduism, historical) A girl who underwent the Hindu religious practice of being "married" to a deity. In addition to taking care of the temple, she learned and practiced Bharatanatyam and other classical Indian arts, and enjoyed high social status.
    • 2017, Sunil Khilnani, Incarnations, Penguin, page 372:
      It would be a century before the daughter of another devadasi mesmerized audiences around the world.

See also

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Further reading

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