Sati (practice)

The practice of Sati (also sometimes unphonetically written suttee) was a Hindu funeral custom in which the widow immolated herself alive on her husband?s funeral pyre.

The practice

The act of sati was always supposed to take place voluntarily, and from the existing accounts, many of them were indeed voluntary. The act may have been expected of widows in some communities. The extent to which any social pressures or expectations should be considered as compulsion has been the matter of much debate in modern times. It is frequently stated that a widow could expect little of life after her husband's death, especially if she was childless. However, there were also instances where the wish of the widow to commit sati was not welcomed by others, and where efforts were made to prevent the death.

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Traditionally, the funeral of any dead person would usually have taken place within a day of the death. Thus a decision by a widow to die at her husband's funeral would often have to be made quickly. In some cases, such as when the husband died elsewhere, then it was still possible for the widow to die by immolation, but at a later date.

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The connection with the original marriage between the widow and the deceased was emphasised. Unlike other mourners, the sati at the funeral was often dressed in marriage robes, or in other finery. Her death may have been seen as a culmination of the marriage. In the preliminaries of the related act of Jauhar, both the husbands and wives have been known to dress in their marriage clothes and re-enact their wedding ritual, before going to their separate deaths.

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There are accounts of many different approaches of the widow to her death. The majority have the widow seated or lying down on the funeral pyre beside her dead husband. There are also many descriptions of widows who walked or jumped into the flames after the fire had been lit, and there are descriptions of widows who lit their own funeral pyres after seating themselves on it.

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Compulsion

As stated previously, sati has always been supposed to be voluntary. Leaving aside the matter of social pressures, it is likely that some widows were physically forced to their deaths.

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Sometimes the woman was seated on the unlit pyre, and tied or otherwise restricted, to prevent her fleeing after the fire was lit. Some accounts say that the woman was drugged. There is one description of men with long poles preventing a widow from fleeing the flames.

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Royal funerals

Royal funerals sometimes have included the deaths of many wives and concubines. A number of examples of these occur in the history of Rajasthan.

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Symbolic sati

There have been accounts of symbolic sati in some Hindu communities. A widow lies down next to her dead husband, and certain parts of both the marriage ceremony and the funeral ceremonies are enacted, but without her death.

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Jauhar

The practice of jauhar, only known from Rajasthan, was the collective suicide of a community. It consisted of the mass immolation of women, and sometimes also of the children, the elderly and the sick, at the same time that their fighting men died in battle. It is detailed in a separate article.

Related Topics:
Jauhar - Rajasthan

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Burials

In some Hindu communities, it is conventional to bury the dead. It has been known for similar widow deaths to occur in these communities, but with the widow being buried alive with the husband, in ceremonies that are otherwise largely as in the immolation.

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