Volume-04 ISSN: 2455-3085 (Online)

Issue-06 RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary

June-2019 www.rrjournals.com[UGC Listed Journal]

Devadasi Tradition and Artist Ratnabali Kant's Reaction on the Orthodox Practice
through Dance Theater Performance
Prof. Zeba Hasan

Professor , Department of Fine Art, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, U.P. (India)

ARTICLE DETAILS ABSTRACT

Article History
Published Online: 15June 2019
Keywords
Devadasi, Rajdasi,Jogin, Bhikkhuni, Mistress,
Religious-ritual,Prostitution,Dance-theatre-
performance, Religious Ritual Space.
* reputation. Till the eleventh century these religious rituals continued under the
Corresponding Author
Email:zebart987[at]gmail.com
The tradition of 'Devadasi' was related to the magnificent temples of South India built
during the kingdom of Pallava, Chola and Pandya. According to historical and socio-
religious records 'Devadasi' was recognized as a learned and talented woman and
spiritual devotee to the deities of temples. They were trained in Indian classical
dances like Bharatanatyam and Odissi. During this time every temple was
reverberated with the sound of music and this profession attributed with high
patronization of Kings or in charge of the temple academicians for smooth functioning.
But with fall of Pallava, Pandya and Chola dynasties this dignified tradition of temples
undergone to degeneration. At this time temples become poorer and lost their
patrons, devadasis suffered poverty, misery and in some cases adopted the
profession of prostitution to earn their livelihood. The nineteen and twentieth century
withered the personae of devadasiand modern status given to her termed as Mistress.
Instead of royal or temple's academician's patronage, rich men of the vicinity came
forward to patronize devadasis and exploited their helplessness. After the total
collapse of temples some devadasi women migrated to nearby towns or other far-off
cities and started practicing prostitution. Corruption kept on growing, consequently
tradition of becoming devadasi declared illegal by Karnataka state government in
1982 and Andhra Pradesh in 1988. Presently devadasi's are known as jogin in Andhra
Pradesh, who are working as labour and facing further exploitation forfulfilingthe
needs of livelihood. Artist Ratnabali Kant researched the tradition of davadasifrom
historical, religious rituals and psychologicalpoint of view. She reached to the
conclusion that this tradition was inappropriate and against the nature, which caused
the whole community of devadasis to get suffered immeasurably. She performed a
demonstration through a dance-theatre-performance to convey her opinion about the
tradition, which is still continuing at some backward places of India. The above issue
has been elaborately and scientificallydiscussed in the proposed research paper.

The kingdom of Pallava, Chola and Pandya of south
India were established as great civilization between seventh to
thirteen century. The kings of this kingdom were the follower of
the Hindu religion. They built magnificent temples for their
God(s)and Goddess(s) adorned with brilliant arts. Also
appointed beautiful Devadasi(s) with the purpose to devote
their arts (dance, poetry, music etc.) to the divine idols.
Primarily tradition of making Devadasior devotee of God came
into existence long time back, asa description of
'Amrapali'(600-500 BCE)isavailable in the manuscript
ofBuddhist Jataka.She received much fame as a talented artist
1
of Vaishali. But she renounced her position as courtesan and
instead chose to follow in Buddha's footsteps as a Bhikkhuni
(female monk or nun). And she supported Buddhism
2
throughout her life. Similarly, female devoteeintroduced around
7th century and recognized as'Devadasi'. Lakshmi
Vishavanathanelucidated about her, "These Devadasis were
appointed in temples to take care of the God(s) and also given
the title as Rajdasi or the royal dancer. Hence, Devadasi
3
enjoyed the high status conferred by the king."
„Devadasi‟ as described is a Hindureligious custom,
basically understood as spiritual devotee to the deity of
temples, who used to dedicate their whole life to the Deva or
Devi(deity). Her position is elucidated in the book entitled
Women and religion, "Devadasi had a high rank and dignity in
society and were exceptionally affluent, who were seen as the
protectors of music and dance. During this period, royal
patrons provided them with gifts of land, property and
4
jewellery." With their extraordinary position in the
contemporary society Devadasi was recognized as
educatedand talented woman entrusted with significant
responsibilities narrated in following lines, "In addition to taking
care of the temple and performing rituals, these women also
learnt and practiced traditional Indian classical dances
likeBharatanatyam and Odissi dance. They had a high social
status as dance and music were essential parts of temple
5
worship." Some References related to temple dancers are
found in Kalidasa's „Meghadhoot‟, which is cited below: “It is
said that dancing girls were present at the time of worship in
the Mahakal Temple of Ujjain. Some scholars are of the
opinion that probably the custom of dedicating girls to temples
became quite common in the 6th century, as most of the
Puranas containing reference to it have been written during this
period. Several Puranas recommended that arrangements
should be made to enlist the services of singing girls for
6
worship at temples”.

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 Volume-04, Issue-06,June-2019 RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary

Devadasis were the central character in Indian religious Making of Devadasi as per the religious belief:
th 7
and cultural life from 10 century onward. In the book The concept and procedure of making of a young girl to
'Prostitution and beyond' author(s) informed that the title devadasiappears a bit strange, generallyit was decided by the
'Devadasi' was substituted with new designation, "In the mother of the girl before her puberty between her tender age of
records of medieval period, the temple girls are barely referred six to nine. Then the senior devadasiofficially recommend the
to as Devdasis. In medieval literature they are known as name of the girl to the temple authorities. Lakshmi explains
„MunnuriSanulu‟, „Pedamunnuti‟, „Sani‟. In the temple they were further, "On the final approval an auspicious day would be
employed as dancers, singers, musicians and for offering chosen and announced for the respective ritual ceremony by
certain services to the deities and some of them were in charge the temple authorities, so that all employees could be present
8 14
of smooth functioning of the temple academicians." at the ceremony." "In a village temple such ceremony would
15
Lakshmi Vishavanathaninforms about the tradition of continue for ten or twelve days." After coming into the service
building temples and appointing devadasisduring the ninth of temple she was given training to become a perfect devadasi.
century in Chola, “By the end of the ninth century, there were In the following lines Lakshmi explains the whole process of
190 temples in the Chola kingdom on both the banks of the getting devadasi married with to the god, “The girl was dressed
river Kaveri. Every village had a temple, and every temple in fancy costumes every evening like different mythological
reverberated with the sound of music. Saints, who wandered goddesses, or the ten avatars of Vishnu and eminent devadasi
praised each hallowed spot. The picture was never complete musicians and dancers performed every evening. Thus the girl
without the beautiful devadasis who adorned both ritual and was psychologically prepared to enter a relationship with a
festive activities. They were „deivamakalir‟ (women of God), patron, while at the same time she was aware of the fact that
16
„rudraganikaiyar‟ (confidant of Shiva/Rudra), „tenarmoliyar‟ she was formally „married‟ to the god.”
(honey-voiced women) and „cirritaik-kannimarkal‟ (virgins with
slender waists). They were „pavaiyar‟ (beautiful maidens) with
delicate feet, sweet voices and slender figures. These
„azhagiyapendir‟(beautiful girls) and „azhagilum‟ „azhagiyar‟
(beauty of beauties!) were chosen to be the consorts of gods
9
and kings.” The glorious tradition of keeping devadasis in
temples continued around 11th AD in South India. Pallava,
Pandya and Chola dynasties suffered a fall and so was the
socio-religious tradition of temples and all related activities
undergone a decline.
Fig.1. Devadasi, Cover page of the book „Women of Pride‟ by
The Dark Age of Devadasi Tradition: LakshamiVishwanathan
After 11th century invasion of outsiders in India caused
decline in the tradition of the royal temples and devadasis,
Lakshmi Vishavanathanstated in this connection, ".....the
glorious Pallava, Pandya and Chola dynasties, a dark phase
marked the history of South India. The richness of the region
attracted plunder and destruction. With cruelty and
ruthlessness the Hindu of South was conquered by the Muslim
forces of North India. From the middle of the thirteenth century
for nearly a hundred years, the shadow of terror cast gloom on
temples, and the cultural and social life of the South.
Devadasis too faded into oblivion. There are no records to
show what they did in this period. A few accounts of historians,
mainly travellers, pointed to some of the invaders taking
hundreds of dancers away as part of their loot to serve them in
10
their own palaces in Central India.” Fig. 2. The last group of Devadasis who performed the Kuravanji
dance-drama in the Thajavur temple. Seated in the centre is the
The rise and fall in the position of devadasis were legendary dancer VeenabhashiniAmmal.
running parallel to the socio-political ups and down. The
beginning of the second millennium CE was important when
invaders from West Asia attained first victory in India and
spread throughout the country. Thereafter the status of temples
11
fell in South India. When the temples become poorer and lost
their patron kings, the devadasis had no choice to escape the
12
life of poverty, misery, and, in some cases, prostitution. Those
who could save themselves during such difficult timeLakshmi
praised them and said, “Only a few of them survived this
downfall purely because of their courage, their extraordinary
talent and the support of patrons committed both to the art and
13
the person of the devadasis.”

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 Volume-04, Issue-06,June-2019
Fig. 3. Dressed in white costumes, devadasis pose in front of a
marquee before a performance in Madras in early twentieth century.
The whole ritual of transforming devadasi was exciting
as narrated above, which usually was very fascinating for other
girls of the village, resultantly many girls thought or dreamt
about to become devadasi or get married to the god. The next
ceremony supposed to start at the time of puberty, which
usually announced through a ceremony for consummation of
marriage. Lakshmi Vishavanathanexplains the ceremony
further, “The prayojanam or the consummation of marriage,
was the next step in the new life of devadasi. The ritual
consummation was followed by the ceremony to mark the
actual taking on of a sexual partner. A patron was usually
waiting for the 'sadanku' ceremonies to be over. During the
waiting period the girl would continue her training in music,
dance, literature, and kept away from evil eyes. The
'parayojanam' was a moderate affair. A member of prospective
men was invited and their offers received. The final selection
was with the consent of the girl. The verbal contrast between
the man and the devadasis‟s family stipulated the amount to be
17
paid as also the duration of the relationship.”
Further Lakshmi says, “It was not uncommon for the
priest to make first claim on the girl, but in many cases the girl
was offered to the rich merchant- the patron. After the Pottu
ceremony (offering a gold pendant in the Shape of a concave
disc to the newly designated devadasi) the girl was sent home
where the family arranged the feast. The Pottu was then
removed and kept safe to protect it from being pulled at the
18
time of first menstruation.”
Lakshmi talks about the sanctity of the tradition and its
transformation as impure practice at some places in following
lines, “Although the original devadasis were brahmacharinis
their entire life, even the contemporary sexual aspects of the
rituals that accompany dedication are now considered by many
Hindus to be exploitative and not mandatory. Nevertheless this
practice continues unabated in some places where a devadasi
would usually acquire a patron after her deflowering-ceremony.
Patron ship in a majority of cases is achieved at the time of the
dedication ceremony itself. The patron who secures this right of
spending the first night with the girl can pay a fixed sum of
money to maintain a permanent liaison with the devadasi, pay
to maintain a relationship for a fixed amount of time, or
terminate the liaison after the deflowering ceremony. A
RRIJM 2015, All Rights Reserved
RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary
permanent liaison with a patron does not bar the girl from
entertaining other clients, unless he specifies otherwise. In
case the girl entertains, other men have to leave the girl‟s
19
house when her patron comes.” Hence, the rise and fall of
devadasis were running parallel to the socio-political ups and
down.
Devadasi's transforming image in the contemporary time:
Lakshmi discusses in her book how the tradition of
devadasi changed its perspective according to the modern time
as she throws light in the following lines, "By the nineteen and
twentieth century the personae of nineteenth century devadasi
was withered further, now the modern status given to her is
termed as „Mistress‟. Instead of kings or priest of temples rich
men of the vicinity is patronizing devadasis and exploiting their
20
helplessness." The above makes it evident that devadasi's
image and performance were modified according to the choice
of the elite class but in exchange of their exploitation.
According to the report published in 2004 by the
National Human Rights Commission of the Government of
Indialater devadasi tradition was associated with commercial
sexual exploitation, in this connection Lakshmi provides a data,
“... after initiation as devadasi women migrated either to nearby
towns or other far-off cities and started practicing
21
prostitution”. According to the study of 1990 record, “45.9% of
devadasis in one particular district were prostitutes, while most
of the others relied on manual labour and agriculture for their
income. The practice of dedicating devadasis was declared
illegal by the government of the Indian state Karnataka in 1982
and by the government of Andhra Pradesh in 1988. However
as of 2006 the practice was still prevalent in around 10 districts
of northern Karnataka and 14 districts in Andhra Pradesh.”
22
th
The reformers of the 19 century declared devadasis
immoral because of their involvement in sex outside of the
traditional concept of marriage, and described them as
prostitutes.
23
Generally, religious prostitutes (devdasi),
professional prostitutes, singers, dancers, call-girls, and caged
brothel prostitutes all were categorized as common
24
prostitutes. “There are a number of regional variations of this
institution. Devdasi presently known as Maharis in Kerala,
Natis in Assam, Muralis in Maharashtra, Basavis in Karnataka,
Bhavanis in Goa, Kundikars on the West coast, Thevardiyar in
Tamil Nadu and Jogins in Andhra Pradesh. Most of these
women come from the lower sections of society and practice
prostitution”
25
„National Commission for Women‟ (NCW) had written to
the State Governments to find out the position of Devadasis in
their respective states, the result explored was shocking which
is mentioned as under: “In Andhra Pradesh Devadasi practice
is prevalent in fourteen districts– Karimnagar, Warangal,
Nizamabad, Mahaboobnagar, Kurnool, Hyderabad,
Ananthapur, Medak, Adilabad, Chittoor, Rangareddy, Nellore,
Nalgonda, and Srikakulam. In Karnataka the practice has been
found to exist in SIX districts– Raichur, Bijapur, Belgaum,
Dharwad, Bellari and Gulbarga. In Maharashtra the Devadasi
cult exists in TEN districts – Pune, Sholapur, Kolhapur, Sangli,
Mumbai, Lathur, Usmanabad, Satara, Sindhudurg and
Nanded.”
26
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 Volume-04, Issue-06,June-2019
Devdasis presently known as jogin in AndraPredesh,
though there is a great differences between devdasis and
jogins. "This is assumed that the word jogin has been
originated from the Sanskrit term yogi. The majority of Jogins
are landless and they got a low paid labour. They are
considered as socially distinct group because of the
compulsions of an inherited social tradition, these girls are
sucked into the vertex of concubine and satisfy the lust of the
village landowners, once the landlord ditch, and they turn from
27
concubine to prostitute."
Rohini, Shankar and Hemant gave records related with
increasing prostitution in their book „Prostitution and beyond‟,
“Andhra Pradesh has the dubious distinction of topping all
states in the trafficking of women. A book devoted to inter-state
trafficking named 'Shattered Innocence' by Prajwala, a non-
government organization reveals that a majority of the women
in the age group of 12-35 years in the red light areas of Delhi,
28
Mumbai, Kolkata and Goa are from A.P.” “The catchment
areas for the racketeers include almost all the 23 districts
spread across coastal Andhra, Rayalaseemaand the
Telangana regions. Eighty per cent of the victims belong to
socially and economically disadvantaged families. Seventy per
cent are from backward and drought-prone areas. Eighty-five
29
per cent are illiterate.”
It is not only surprising but distressing that the tradition
of Devadasis which begun during the ancient time with a pious
intention of worshiping the Almighty God through all forms of
aesthetics such as art of music, dance, poetry etc. but
gradually evils and lust infected the spirit of the sacred concept
and devadasi tradition transformed into an ugly profession of
prostitution.
RekhaPandey, sociologists and historian, gives
examples of four study cases in her research paper entitled
„Ritualized Prostitution-Devadasis to Jogins‟. Rekha describes
in a case of a Jogin about Laxmi,Harijan by cast was identified
as a Jogin at the age of five initiated at the age of eleven,
"When Laxmi reached puberty at the age of 11, a grand
ceremony was organized in the temple of village and all
villagers were present there. There were a lot of decorations
with festoons, lamps and incense. A sheep was also sacrificed.
The Patharaju, the traditional priest performed the ceremony,
whereby she was married to the Goddess. Laxmi thought it
normal that though she was married to the Goddess, she had
to first have sex with the priest and then be the keep of toddy
trapper, who brought her a Mangalasutra and new cloths. Her
duties include performing dances in the temple and in front of
village gatherings whenever invited she had to also perform
dances in front of the dead bodies and when the villagers
placed some coins on the dead body, she had to pick these up
with her mouth. This ritual acted till the dead body reached the
30
funeral site. She was the one who led the procession."
RekhaPandey further narrates, "The toddy trapper
visited her whenever he felt like but she was never allowed to
visit his house or even touch his wife and children because of
her cast background. Though the toddy trapper had physical
relations with her, he would not even have water in her house
because she was untouchable and she never minded it. Two
RRIJM 2015, All Rights Reserved
RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary
years back she gave birth to a boy who died soon after his
birth.When RekhaPandey met her she was five months
pregnant, and remained sick most of the time. Laxmi admitted
that there are many disadvantages in being born a girl. Since
she was designated as a Jogin there were many restrictions on
her. After puberty, she was never allowed to play or go alone to
the market. She was not allowed to laugh aloud or talk to
members of the opposite sex. She felt no exploitation because
she is being looked after by the toddy trapper. She was quite
aware that he was free to leave her whenever he wants to and
this attributed to her fate of being born a woman and if she was
31
a boy there will not be any problem." There are some
references in south India that to fulfil any “Mannat” (desire) viz.
adesire for a male child or to recover any diseased male child
parents usually sacrifice or dedicate their female child as to
become Devadasi.
In modern India the tradition become associated with
commercial sexual exploitation, as described in a report of
2004 provided by the National Human Rights Commission of
32
the Government of India. After learning about such pitiful
condition of devadasi/ jogin etc. social workers, NGO(s) and
government have taken several measures to eradicate this
horrifying practice from the society.
Artist Ratnabali Kant's reaction on the custom of
Devadasi:
Ratnabali Kant, a renowned artist strongly condemned
Devadasi tradition of ancient times or established atany place
in India. She protested against the custom and pronounced it
as exploitation in the name of religion. She raised several
questions that eight or nine years of age of a girl is such tender
age that she should be brought up with love and care and
when at this age she becomes pregnant and she does not
know what to do? And who would take the responsibility of
suchheinous and shameful act? Ratnabali Kantstrongly
condemned it and expressed her disapproval to thisimmoralact
and sinful practice. To explain her point of view against the evil
practice Ratnabalichose a new paradigmof art i.e. 'Dance
theatre performance'through which she displayed her denial
against the rotten tradition so that her message could reach to
the peoples and could influence their psychology in support of
eradicating the above exploitation.
Dance TheatrePerformance by Ratnabali Kant under the
title 'Religious Ritual Space':
The performance 'Religious Ritual Space’was organized
at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, on May 5, 1991. Through
this act Ratnabali Kant condemned the tradition of Devadasi on
the whole. In this dance theatre performance as shown in Plate
no. 01 Priyamvada (eight years old child) performing as
devadasi enters the stage where an image of the Lord
Jagannath (South style) is displayed behind her, she enchants
dialoguesrepeatedly before the God, “I am a Devadasi. I am
married to lord Jagannathan. I wake up the God every morning,
33
feed him, cloth him, and put him to bed in the night.”
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 Volume-04, Issue-06,June-2019 RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary

After sometime Priyamvadapretends as if gradually

entering into her fantasy, dreaming aboutthe day her beloved-
God will appear and bring her pleasure and contentment in life.
This wasdevadasi's daily routine, in this manner her day used
to begin with singing, dancingand worshiping the God,
believing that one day she will meet the God, but in reality,
hewill never show up instead Pandit or the rich person in
chargewould get an excess for their immoral inclinations.In
plate no. 02, Ratnabali Kant (as an adult) is shown instructing
the young girl to make her understand about the evils and odds
of her deceptive faiths so that she may stay away from any
exploitation and damage.

In this performance Ratnabali has used religious

references as a strong tool for conveying her message to the
Plate no. 01
audience, which simultaneously stir their emotions and invite
Title- Religious Ritual Space, Dance Theatre Performance, Priyamvada
them fortheir response/reaction on the subject. Ratnabali
performing in front of the Lord JagannathasDevadasi.
always plots her performance in a manner, which usually ends
up in coordination with audience and profited with suggestions
to resolve the issue. One point is worth mentioning now that
when the performer and the audience think on a parallel
wavelength, this pointis considered as „Empathy‟, here, in the
above performance the audienceand performer both strongly
condemningthe orthodox practice of devadasi, which is the
success of the performance.

Ratnabali is well known as a skilled performer, she

Plate no. 02
Title- Religious Ritual Space, DanceTheatrePerformance,Ratnabali
Kant delivering a discourse to DevadasiPriyamvada.
knows how to use ritualistic elements without being ritualistic
and alsohow to imbibe various concepts/ instructions with the
performance, which will always engage audience to think or to
act simultaneously. The general idea of Ratnabali Kant behind
the above performance ondevadasiconcludes that such practice
is a social evil and should be removed from the system totally
and those who are still following this practice must stopped
immediately.

References

1. Channa, SubhadraMitra (2013). Gender in South Asia: 9. Vishavanathan, Lakshmi, Women of pride, a devadasi
Social Imagination and Constructed Realities. Cambridge heritage, Roli Books Pvt. Ltd., ISBN: 978-81-7436-672-6,
University Press, Daryaganj, New Delhi, ISBN 978-1-107- 2008, p. 87 & 89.
04361-9, pp. 21–22. 10. Ibid.
2. Gupta, N.L. (2000). Women Education Through the Ages, 11. Devadasi, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia,
Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi, ISBN 978-81- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devadasi, retrieved on
7022-826-4, p. 92. 19.05.2019.
3. Vishavanathan, Lakshmi, women of pride, a 12. Ibid.
devadasiheritage, Roli Books Pvt. Ltd., 978-81-7436-672-6, 13. Vishavanathan, Lakshmi, women of pride, a
2008, p. 87 and 89. devadasiheritage, Roli Books Pvt. Ltd., 978-81-7436-672-6,
4. Edited by ElisabettaRuspini, Glenda TibeBonifacio 2008, p. 87, 89
andConsuelo Corradi (2018). "Divine shadows", Women and 14. Ibid. p. 57
religion: Contemporary and future challenges in the Global 15. Ibid. p. 62-63
Era (1 ed.), Bristol University Press, ISBN 9781447336365, 16. Ibid. p. 62-63
pp. 79–92. 17. Ibid. p. 62
5. Devadasi, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia, 18. Ibid. p. 62
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devadasi, retrieved on 19. Devadasi, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia, retrieved
19.05.2019. on 19.05.2019.
6. ShaniRohini, Shankar v. Kalyan, ApteHemant, Prostitution 20. Vishavanathan, Lakshmi, women of pride, a
and beyond, an analysis of sex work in India, saga devadasiheritage, 978-81-7436-672-6, 2008, p.-87.
publication, India Pvt. Ltd, 978-81-7829-784-2, p. 108. 21. Ibid.
7. Ibid. 22. Devadasi, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia, retrieved
8. Ibid. on 19.05.2019.

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 Volume-04, Issue-06,June-2019 RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary

23. Ibid. 30. Sahni, Rohini. Prostitution and beyond- An analysis of sex
24. Ibid. work in India, SAGE, New Delhi, 978-81-7829-784-2, p. 110-
25. SahaniRohini, Shankar v. Kalyan, ApteHemant, Prostitution 111.
and beyond, an analysis of sex work in India, saga 31. Ibid.
publication India Pvt. Ltd., 978-81-7829-784-2, p. 106 32. P.M. Nair, IPS (2004-07-18) A Report on Trafficking in
26. Anil Chawla, Devdasis - SINNERS OR SINNED AGAINST, Women and Children in India 2002-2003. National Human
An attempt to look at the myth and reality of history and Rights Commission, Government of India;
present status of Devadasis: www.samarthbharat.com http://nhrc.nic.in/Documents/ReportonTrafficking.pdf.
27. SahaniRohini, Shankar v. Kalyan, ApteHemant, Prostitution Retrieved 31.01.2007.
and beyond, an analysis of sex work in India, saga 33. Extracted from the Video CD released with support from India
publication India Pvt. Ltd., 978-81-7829-784-2, p. 101-102 Habitat Centre, Delhi, on September 21, 2007 for the Arts on
28. Ibid. p. 109 the performance played by Ratnabali Kant.
29. Ibid. p. 109

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