"What is that?"
"They're something like Papist priests. Women who give themselves to God, or at least to the pope's Church." Hawksworth paused awkwardly. "And claim to be married to Christ, so they never lie with a man."
Kamala looked at him with surprise.
"Not even the high-caste men who come to the temple? But how, then, do they serve this Christian God? By dance only?"
"Nuns aren't known to do much dancing. They mainly . . . well, I don't really know what they do, except claim to be virgins."
"Virgins!" Kamala exploded in laughter. "This Christian God must be a eunuch. We devadasis serve the temple with our bodies, not with empty words."
"Then what exactly did you do?" Hawksworth looked up and examined her.
"I was at the famous Shiva temple of Brihadishwari in Tanjore, the great fountainhead of Bharata Natyam dance in India. There we danced for the god of the temple, and we danced too at the courts of the Dravidian kings of the south." She hesitated, then continued. "Devadasis there also honor the temple god by lying with men of high caste who come to worship, and by wearing the jewels they give us. It's all part of our sacred tradition."
She laughed as she watched the disbelief flood Hawks-
worth's face. "I gather we must be quite different from your Christian 'nuns.' But you know devadasis are honored in the south. Many are granted lands by the men they know, and though they can never marry, devadasis sometimes become attached to a man and bear his children. But our children always take our name and are dedicated to the temple. Our daughters become devadasis also, and our sons temple musicians. Our dance gurus are part of a hereditary guild, and they are esteemed above all men. They are the ones who preserve and pass down the sacred Bharata Natyam dance. You may not believe me when I tell you we are highly revered by the kings who reign in the south, lands where the Moghuls fear to tread. They know we are special among women. We are cultivated artists, and among the few Hindu women in India who teach our daughters to read and write."