Devadasi Collection

Costumes de Différents Pays, Bayadere, c1797. Creators: Jacques Grasset de Saint-Sauveur, LF Labrousse
Costumes de Differents Pays, Bayadere, c1797

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - The God And The Bayadere
Poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - The God And The Bayadere (The Temple Dancer) - An Indian Legend. Date: circa 1925

Les Bayaderes (engraving)
2783347 Les Bayaderes (engraving) by French School, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Les Bayaderes. Illustration for Journal Des Voyages, 24 May 1891.); © Look and Learn

Cammatatchi, a dancer, 1827-35 (colour litho)
478569 Cammatatchi, a dancer, 1827-35 (colour litho) by Burnouf, M.E. (fl.1827-35); Private Collection; (add.info.: Devadasi dancing girls were known as Bayaderes in colonial times)

Dancing Bayaderes, 1827-35 (colour litho)
478567 Dancing Bayaderes, 1827-35 (colour litho) by Burnouf, M.E. (fl.1827-35); Private Collection; (add.info.: Bayaderes Dansants, illustration from L Inde Francaise, Paris: Chabrelle)

The Shamakhi dancers, Mid of the 19th century. Artist: Gagarin, Grigori Grigorievich (1810-1893)
The Shamakhi dancers, Mid of the 19th century. Private Collection

Woman of Shamakhy (From: Scenes, paysages, meurs et costumes du Caucase), 1840. Found in the collection of the Russian State Library, Moscow

Russian beauty as an exotic Indian Dancer
Russian beauty in the costume of a Devadasi - an Indian Temple Dancer Date: 1901

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Amidst the enchanting allure of the East, the Devadasi - a sacred dancer in Indian tradition - once captivated the imagination of the Western world. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's "The God and The Bayadère" penned a poetic ode to their ethereal grace. In the 19th century, European artists like Grigori Grigorievich Gagarin, inspired by the exotic allure of these dancers, immortalized their beauty in works such as "The Shamakhi Dancers" and "Woman of Shamakhy." These color lithographs, "Cammatatchi, a Dancer" and "Dancing Bayaderes," further showcase the mesmerizing artistry of these dancers. The Russian beauty, in turn, embraced the allure of the Indian Devadasi, transforming herself into an exotic dancer, a testament to the transcending power of art and culture.