#Thread
Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy - An Inspirational Women

Muthulakshmi Reddy was born in 1886 in the princely state of Pudukottai in Tamilnadu. Her father was Narayanswami Iyer. Her mother was a Devadasi who, In case you don’t know, were women...

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who were ostensibly “dedicated” to temple deities tasked with passing on the baton of the art of dance to the next generation. The grim reality was different. They were often subjected to exploitation and were considered prostitutes by the British government...

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It was actually worse than prostitution- no one chose to be a devadasi. The prepubescent girl was initiated into the system by a religious ceremony which ensured her permanent status as a concubine. She would have a male patron, but no rights to his surname or inheritance.

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Devadasis needn’t marry and were called, “Nityasumangali” - meaning immune to widowhood. It was a crass euphemism - after all, you can’t become a widow if you aren’t married. Luckily for Muthulakshmi, her father was an academician and a school principal.

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A sole oasis in an otherwise barren desert. He gave her the power of education.The class in which she studied had 40 boys and 3 girls separated by a screen.Even then the parents of the boys objected, fearing their “innocent” sons would be ensnared by a prepubescent femme fatale.