Although India brands Bharatnatyam, among other dance forms, as “classical” and “proper” dance, these art forms are re-constructed versions of traditional dances centered around female sexuality. Colonialism brought Western ideals to India, seeking to replace the sexual and economic freedom of devadasi women. Western ideals of chastity and a woman's role in society were pushed front and center. These reforms were primarily sparked by colonial ideals brought by the British Raj, but upper-caste Brahmins took advantage of these new ideals to change existing art forms into ones that would raise their own cultural capital and diminish the livelihood of lower-caste devadasi women.

Devadasi directly translates to "servant of the god" and is defined as a class of women who through various ceremonies of 'marriage' dedicated themselves to the deities of temples and other ritual objects. Devadasi women were symbols of both early feminism and female oppression. While these women made an income and were free from traditional sexual constraints of single partners and traditional marriage, they were often also exploited at an early age. Courtesans were often literate and had their own sexual relations with upper-caste men, but were also considered commodities that were bought and sold as concubines. Devadasi women experienced more economic freedom than women in other castes, but also more exploitation. Their position in society was controversial but devadasis still held enough power to become their own caste in South India.

Devadasi courtesans having economic and sexual opportunity was in direct opposition of the values of British colonial powers at the time, who maintained a traditional Western style of limit on female freedom. The “Anti-Nautch Reform movement” took place from approximately 1892-1947 and banned the devadasi form of art by labelling it as prostitution. However, it did little to crack down on actual prostitution. The reform was ultimately more about limiting female power in accordance with Western values, rather than preventing exploitation. The values of devadasi culture threatened colonial power, so colonial powers banned the art form.

Similarly, British colonial powers found it politically advantageous to consolidate the Indian identity in order to reinforce Western values. They often utilized upper-caste Indians, or Brahmins, as vehicles to enforce British rule, offering power and protection in exchange. Before colonization, India was fragmented and diverse, but a consistent part of Indian identity was spirituality and the art forms that accompanied it. Therefore, it became useful to consolidate national identity through the "creation of a new "Indian" art" and this "nationalist thought" became "inextricably intertwined with international intellectual and political networks". Thus, devadasi traditions were quickly transformed into Bharatanatyam in the first dance revival during the 1930s. The same Brahmins were simultaneously involved with government affairs such as the national meeting of the Congress Party in Madras in 1927 that led to the founding of the Music Academy. Art forms such as Bharatnatyam that were marked as "classical” were now considered to be middle-class upper-caste Brahmin art forms, combining social power with cultural capital and highbrow taste. The dances had been reformed to demonstrate female chastity and sexual morals rather than sexual deviance. Brahmin Indians had been able to capitalize from colonial powers, thus adopting Western ideals of taste and enforcing these ideologies in exchange for power. This resulted in the devadasi dance form being outlawed, while also being appropriated as an opportunity for further mobility for the upper-caste. 

Brahmin women found the most benefit in oppressing Devadasi women. One way they did this was by leading a superficial campaign to advocate for devadasi rights after the Anti-Nautch movement. It was led by upper-caste women who could sympathize with devadasis on gender-related issues but would never have felt the true burden of being a woman in the devadasi class. Thus, while women leading these reform efforts were preaching "pure" and "reformed" sexual values the British had taught them, they did not care to lead a movement to uplift all classes and castes of women. This resulted in many continued marginalization of devadasi women. Former devadasis or those with devadasi heritage lived their lives in social and civil limbo because the reforms did not actually include them. Devadasi women could not find housing, work, or marital partners. Meanwhile, middle-class upper-caste women gained significant power. Nrithya Pillai, a prominent scholar in the space, says “the reinvention of Indian dance was also a Brahminic nationalist project from its very beginning… When statements are made like “the British banned devadasis”… the burden of blame is transferred from Brahmin nationalist elites who actualised these projects to the strawman of colonialism.”

This class battle between devadasis and upper-caste women damaged devadasi careers across artistic industries. In the 1930s and 1940s dance revival, Brahmin women rebranded the dances of devadasis as sexually moral rather than sexually explicit and pushed devadasi heritage out of the new version of classical Indian dance. Former devadasi women moved towards the space of South Indian cinema in the 1960s, but soon upper-caste Brahmin women trickled into the industry. They soon took center stage, pushing devadasi women to the side lines. Meanwhile, devadasi women continue to be stigmatized and vilified by their peers even today.

Learning the full history of devadasi performers is the best way to further advocate for their rights and ensure that their art form is appropriately credited.