devadasi
Devadasi literally means, “a servant of god.” This
term was applied to women who lived in temples
as the wives of the male divinity there. Tradition-
ally the women were married in a solemn cer-
emony to the divinity. The women were seen to
be the essential power and energy (SHAKTI) of the
divinity incarnate; men would offer great gifts to
the temple in order to have relationships and even
sexual intercourse with the devadasis. The devada-
sis were rigorously trained in the arts and were
very well educated. Several of the Indian dances
that are well known today were preserved and
developed by devadasis in the temples of India.
Most notable are BHARATA NAT YA M and Odissi.
When the British arrived they regarded these
sacred women as nothing but prostitutes and
banned the institution of the devadasi in the late
19th century. The practice continued secretly,
however, for some time afterward.
Further reading: Saskia C. Kersenboom-Story, Nityas-
umangali (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1987); Frederique
Marglin, Wives of the God-King (New York: Oxford Uni-
versity Press, 1985).
Deva Foundation (est. 1980s)
Dr. Deva Maharaj (b. 1948) established the Deva
Foundation in Sweden and Beverly Hills, Califor-
nia, during the 1980s. Its mission is to provide
a space where Asian and Western ideas and phi-
losophy about holiness can meet. The foundation
serves to educate individuals and groups in the
areas of transformation, enlightenment, and indi-
vidual growth. It offers a variety of services and
treatments designed to facilitate personal growth
and healing. These methods include acupressure,
massage, nutrition, self-hypnosis, and SHAKTIPAT,
a technique that serves as the catalyst to awaken
the KUNDALINI energy believed to rest in a latent
state at the base of the spine. Often pictured as a
coiled serpent, this vibrant energy is believed to
stimulate the opening of the CHAKRAS (energy cen-
ters) located along the spine, serving to promote
spiritual enlightenment.
Dr. Deva established the foundation to serve
others, using the credentials he had earned in
India as a homeopathic and ayurvedic medical
practitioner (see AYURVEDA). Members of the foun-
dation may also take classes at the Tantra House,
an auxiliary facility that functions as an esoteric
school. Students at Tantra House are taught that
the wedding of spirituality with sexuality hastens
enlightenment and that mastery of the mysterious
should be accompanied by holistic health prac-
tices. Through the years Dr. Deva has become a
frequent guest on radio and television, where he
demonstrates telepathy and clairvoyance. He trav-
els often to teach and heal. In India, he frequents
the Yoga Center in New Delhi, an educational
center promoting his mission abroad.
The membership of the Deva Foundation
includes two groups in the United States and a
sole mission in Canada. The organization reports
some 1,000 members through North America and
at the several international centers.Further reading: J. Gordon Melton, Encyclopedia of
American Religion (Detroit: Gale Group, 2001).Devaki
Devaki is the mother of KRISHNA, whose birth was
assured by a miracle. Devaki’s husband, VASUDEVA,
was minister to the evil king Kamsa of Mathura.
The king was determined to kill Devaki’s children
to forestall a prediction that one of her sons would
assassinate him. He had the couple put under
guard and had the couple’s first six children killed.
The seventh child, BALARAMA, was miraculously
transferred while an embryo into the womb of
Vasudeva’s second wife, Rohini. By divine inter-
vention, when the eighth child, Krishna, was
born, all of the king’s guards who kept watch over
the couple fell asleep, and Vasudeva was able to
deliver Krishna to his foster mother, YASHODA,
with whom he was raised.K 128 devadasi