• Binita Nath

Devadasi means the servant of god, the female servant of the deity. The female dancer associated with the temples known as devadasi. Motivated by deep devotion people began to dedicated girls to the templevolunterily to the service of god. It was considered very honourable duty to dedicate the girls to the temple. The temples began to built for the residence of god and in course of time people feels that for the entertainment and service of god girls should be attached to the temples or shrines. Dance and music have been found as an important part of religious rituals from very early time. In that way the practice associated with dancing girl prevalent widely from very ancient time in all over India. In India the traces of the cult found back to third century BCE. The custom not only dominated in India only , but traces of the cult have been found in the temples of Babylon, Syria, Phoenicia ec. places of the world. In Assam the cult was prevalent from ancient time to the last phase of medieval period. The temple dancer were regarded very auspicious and enjoyed respectable status in the society. But gradually the sacred nature of the cult lost its nobility. The cult has a great impact on the position of women in the society. Through the paper we try to have a glance about the impact of the system in the position of women and society especially in Assam.

devadasi, cult, religion, women, dancer

"Devadasi Cult in Assam: A Historical Study from 5th century CE. to !8th century CE.", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.7, Issue 2, page no.48-56, February-2020, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2002006.pdf

"Devadasi Cult in Assam: A Historical Study from 5th century CE. to !8th century CE.", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.7, Issue 2, page no. pp48-56, February-2020, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2002006.pdf