This study investigates the complex role of the devadasis within the Jagannatha temple cult to understand how their ritual status reconciles the contradictory concepts of purity and impurity in Hindu religious life. Anthropologist Frederique Apffel Marglin utilizes extensive ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Puri to analyze the intersection of temple service, kingship, and gender. She argues that the devadasis serve as a vital link between the divine and the earthly, challenging Western binary perceptions of chastity and sexual availability. By examining the specific rituals performed by these women, the author provides a framework for understanding the broader socio-religious structures of the Jagannatha cult.

Scholars of South Asian studies frequently cite this work as a foundational text for understanding the intersection of gender and ritual performance in India. Readers often note the academic density of the prose, which provides a rigorous examination of complex cultural phenomena.