Sati - Widow Burning in IndiaBombay journalist Narasimhan here offers an unnerving, carefully documented study of the Indian ritual whereby widows bring glory on themselves and their families by self-immolation on the pyres of their dead husbands. According to the author, the Hindi scriptures, which evolved from the second millennium B.C. to the second millennium A.D., sometimes suggest or sanction sati but this endorsement is equivocal. She further illustrates how, throughout Indian history, sati rituals must be seen as part of a wider canvas of social attitudes that denigrate women; a widow’s life is particularly wretched and even today widows are routinely excluded from various religious functions and festivities. Although sati was officially outlawed in 1829, the rite persists: the book points to the 1987 self-immolation of 18-year-old Roop Kanwar in the presence of a crowd of 4,000, an act that incited nationwide pro- and anti-sati sentiment. Narasimhan demonstrates how the combination of a number of factors; lack of education, religious and economic compulsions and male chauvinism; help to explain how a culture rooted in the tenets of compassion and nonviolence can encourage the burning of its widows. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Heaven in the Hereafter | 11 |
But Hell on Earth | 28 |
Copyright | |
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abetment abolition Adi Shankara become a sati Bengal Bombay Brahmin British burned to death Calcutta CALIFORNIA/SANTA CRUZ century ceremony chastity chunari Code commission of sati commit sati cremation CRUZ The University custom Dayabhaga declared Delhi Deorala District Magistrate dowry enactment fact female fire funeral Ghazipur girl glorification of sati Hindu honour Ibid imprisonment India indoctrination infanticide Jaipur James Tod Jhunjhunu Likewise lives Lord Bentinck Mahabharata Manusmriti marriage Mitakshara mount the pyre mystique niyoga Nizamat Adalat number of sati offence official pativrata person police political Poynder pro-sati prohibited sati punishable pyre Rajasthan Rajput Rammohun Roy recorded religion religious rite Roop Kanwar rupees sacrifice sati immolations sati incidents Sati Prevention scriptures Shankaracharya Shankaracharya of Puri Shekhawati Singh social Special Court suicide suttee Swami Agnivesh texts tion tradition Udaipur University Library UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA/SANTA Vedas village voluntary widow burning widow immolation wife wives woman women