Sati

Sati is the ritual suicide by the wife of the dead hero. This symbolizes following the husband into the afterlife in the most heroic way, giving ones own life. There are many ways that has been carried out, but the typical representation on hero stones has been a female who is holding a vessel, which would be full of a flammable liquid for self immolation, which is also associated with throwing oneself onto the burning funeral pyre. While this page focuses on the material culture of sati, the reader should be aware that sati has come under scrutiny in the past and present, due to the fact that not all participants in sati did this voluntarily. Please take note of the readings list available at the bottom of the page that provide a full explanation of the history, contentions and current state of sati.

 

Rollover the picture with you cursor to see the details of the carvings. You can see the two sati with the vessel’s in their hand. The figure to the far left is the other hero figure in the scene besides the two satis.

 

Again you can see the sati figure in the middle of the two other figures. She has a vessel in her right hand. Rollover the picture to see an outline.

These images of different hero stones give a clear picture of sati individuals. You can see that there is a vessel in the right hand which would hold flammable fluid. What else do you see represented here? Is it significant that the hero and heroin are different sizes?
Pictures copied from Rajan, K., South Indian Memorial Stones, Sasirajan Publishers, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India 2000.

Sati References
Anand, Mulk Raj, Sati A Writeup of Raja Ram Mohan Roy About Burning of Widows
1989 Alive. B.R. Pub. Corp., New Delhi.

Banerjee, Pompa, Burning Women Widows, Witches, and Early Modern European
2003 Travelers in India, Palgrave Macmillan, NYC

Datta, V.N., Sati A Historical, Social and Philosophical Enquiry into the Hindu Rite of
1988 Widow Burning. The Riverdale Company, Maryland

Gaur, Meena, Sati and Social Reforms In India, Publication Scheme, Jaipur
1989

Mani, Lata, Contentious Traditions The Debate on Sati in Colonial India, University of
1998 California Press, Berkeley