ABSTRACT
This chapter brings to the forefront a much neglected aspect of research. In opposition to the image of the 'ideal' traditional Indian woman based on the idea of fidelity to one's husband there emerges the contrasting picture of a temple girl who was idolised as the 'courtesan of god' in the literary and historical traditions of India. The chapter shows how both these roles were seemingly integrated into the dominant ideology of the times. It studies the temple girls in northern Karnataka, particularly in the districts of Dharwar, Belgaum and Bijapur between the period AD 700 to AD 1200, within the broad framework of the socio-economic structure of the times. The socio-religious activity of dedicating girls to temples as part of the overall ideology of bhakti cannot be viewed in isolation from the general economic and historical developments of the time.
