Dancers: viRali, basavi, devadasi

[Valerie J Roebuck]

N. Ganesan writes

>In the thread on viRaliyar dancing women of
>the sangam literature, I quoted Prof. Dr. J.V. Chelliah
>who made a detailed study and translation of
>pattu-paaTTu (10 songs) of sangam literature.
>"The songstress seems to have been quite naked, as otherwise
>her whole body could not have been described."
>(J. V. Chelliah, Pattupattu, SISS society, Madras, 1962, p. 55).
>http://listserv.liv.ac.uk/cgi-shl/WA.EXE?A2=ind0102&L=indology&P=R1709
>

>Dr. V. J. Roebuck:
>>Perhaps they were wearing diaphanous cotton garments, as we see in
>>sculptures at Amaravati and elsewhere?

N. Ganesan writes

>Though it's possible that they were wearing thin garments,
>the poem does not explicitly mention cotton or garments.
>In this highly polished poem, more likely is the mekalaa
>girdle. Comparable is the Indian sculpture of dancers,
>yakshis, ... where they are well adorned with jewelry,
>yet their private parts are fully revealed.

But in fact almost all these figures are meant to be wearing diaphanous
garments: you can only see the hems and the areas where the cloth is
bunched up.  This is what gave rise to my suggestion above.

Valerie J Roebuck
Manchester, UK