The devadasi, Muddupalani, wrote a book of love poetry called Rādhikā-Sāntvanam, one of the few writings remaining from the devadasis. In 1911, the book was banned by British colonial authorities, most copies destroyed. The ban was not rescinded until 1947. Devadasis were seen by the British as a form of prostitution which sent many devadasis into poverty. The devadasi tradition ceased to exist.

Bharatanatyam was reinvented in a post-colonial context while the memory of the devadasis disappeared.