It was sheer magic, when renowned Bharanatyam dancer, Dr. Lakshmi Viswanathan, brought alive a bygone era of kings, courtesans, priests and spoke of temples that were rich seats of art and culture.

When we went to listen to Dr. Viswanathan’s lec-dem at the Bangalore International Centre, Bangalore on Saturday, I had no clue what to expect. Two hours seemed too long, but at the end, it seemed too little.

Dr. Viswanathan recounted interesting anecdotes and stories from her research on Tamilnadu’s devadasi heritage for her book, Women of Pride. She spoke of the influence these beautiful and wealthy women wielded and of the decline of the community, with devadasis becoming nautch girls for British viceroys. She said many of the original families had all gone, having merged into mainstream society.

She shared some rare photographs and demonstrated a couple of padams and javallis from the bygone era.

Today, several states have adopted the Devadasi Act, preventing the dedication of girls to a temple.

Dr Viswanthan’s lec-dem was part of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts- Southern Regional Centre's South India Heritage Lecture Series.