Nagarvadhu or Nagar Vadhu ("bride of the city") was a tradition followed in some parts of ancient India

History of India

The history of India begins with evidence of human activity of Homo sapiens as long as 75,000 years ago, or with earlier hominids including Homo erectus from about 500,000 years ago. The Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from...

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Women competed to win the title of a Nagarvadhu, and it was not considered a taboo. The most beautiful woman was chosen as the Nagarvadhu.

A Nagarvadhu was respected like a goddess

Goddess

A goddess is a female deity. In some cultures goddesses are associated with Earth, motherhood, love, and the household. In other cultures, goddesses also rule over war, death, and destruction as well as healing....

, but in fact she was a courtesan

Courtesan

A courtesan was originally a female courtier, which means a person who attends the court of a monarch or other powerful person.In feudal society, the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...

; people could see her dance and sing. A Nagarvadhu's price for a single night dance used to be very high, and she was only within the reach of the very rich -- the king

Monarch

A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...

, the prince

Prince

Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...

s, the lord

Lord

Lord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince or a feudal superior . The title today is mostly used in connection with the peerage of the United Kingdom or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'by courtesy'...

s.

Famous Nagarvadhus

• Ambapali
  Ambapali
  Amrapāli, also known as "Ambapālika" or "Ambapali", was a nagarvadhu of the republic of Vaishali in ancient India around 500 BC.. Following the Buddha's teachings she became an arahant...
  
  , state courtesan and Buddhist disciple, described in Vaishali Ki Nagarvadhu by Acharya Chatursen
  Acharya Chatursen
  Acharya Chatursen Shastri was an eminent writer of Hindi, and he wrote many historical fictions.-Biography:...
  
  
• Vasantasena, a character in the classic Sanskrit story of Mricchakatika, written in 2nd century BC by Sudraka