Muthulakshmi Reddi: The Doctor and Legislator Who Ended the Devadasi System

Priya Khaitan
6 days ago
2 min read

Updated: 1 day ago

Overview

Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddi (1886–1968) was India's first woman medical graduate and one of the first women legislators in British India, using her seat in the Madras Legislative Council to champion the bill that ultimately ended the Devadasi system.

Timeline

1886 — Born 30 July in Pudukkottai, daughter of a Devadasi mother and a college-principal father
1907 — Enrolls at Madras Medical College, the only woman in her year
1912 — Graduates as one of India's first women doctors, becoming the first woman House Surgeon at the Government Hospital for Women and Children, Madras
1914 — Marries Dr. Sundara Reddy
1926 — Nominated to the Madras Legislative Council, becoming one of the first women legislators in British India
1927 — Introduces the Devadasi Abolition Bill
1930 — Resigns from the Council in protest of Gandhi's arrest during the Civil Disobedience Movement
1947 — The Devadasi system is formally abolished by law, the culmination of her decades-long campaign
1968 — Dies, aged 81

Early Life

Born to a Devadasi mother and a Brahmin college principal father in the princely state of Pudukkottai, Muthulakshmi's admission to the local men's college — the only route to higher education available to her — required the direct intervention of the Raja of Pudukkottai, since no women's college existed to admit her.

Achievements

One of India's first women medical graduates (1912) and the first woman House Surgeon in Madras
One of the first women legislators in British India, nominated to the Madras Legislative Council in 1926
Authored the Devadasi Abolition Bill, leading eventually to the system's formal abolition in 1947
Co-founded the Women's Indian Association and helped pass legislation raising the age of consent for marriage and combating human trafficking
Founded the Avvai Home for destitute women and children, and the Adyar Cancer Institute in Chennai

Challenges

Her push to abolish the Devadasi system faced fierce resistance from conservative groups, made more personal by the fact that her own maternal family had been part of that tradition. She resigned her legislative seat in 1930 in protest of Gandhi's arrest, sacrificing her formal political platform for her political convictions.

Legacy

The Adyar Cancer Institute she founded remains one of India's major cancer treatment centers today, still serving patients regardless of economic background. Google honored her with a doodle on her 133rd birth anniversary in 2019.

Her most commendable achievement as a legislator was the passing of the resolution abolishing the Devadasi system — a cause made personal by her own mother's history within it.

Sources

PMC/NIH: The Incredible Story of India's Revolutionary Feminist; The Better India; Sociology Group.

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