From the Nymph Urvaśī to the Bayadère

Abstract

This paper discusses an important facet in the nineteenth-century European reception of the ancient tradition of India: the Romantic representation of the sacred dancer (devadāsī) through the figure of the bayadère in operas, ballets, dramas and other artistic expressions. In this context, the paper retrieves the devadāsī’s mythical and ritual dimensions, arguing that these provide key elements for a better understanding of the bayadère. To this end, the paper focuses on the famous nymph Urvaśī, the patron saint of dance and prostitution, and compares the Vedic cycle around this figure and Kālidāsa’s courtly version.