|
Volume 3 164 |
 |
A–Z |  |
 |
 |
|
PROFESSIONAL PERFORMERS IN PUBLIC AND RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES |
BRIGHT-EYED DANCING GIRLS |
|
| Dancers by profession, the Nautch girls take part in public performances and are employed within the precincts of some temples, especially in Southern India, where they assist in religious ceremonies. Their official duties are not confined merely to the dance, or to the service of the Indian divinities, and they enjoy a recognized freedom which the women of India generally do not envy | Borne along in their decorative though not too comfortable carriage, these Nautch girls display all the smiling animation with which they are credited by Western imagination, unaware of the drab and seamy side of their life |