India is a country whose culture is characterized by many rites and rituals: wedding, funeral, associated with initiation. Some of them are able to scare modern man, but in ancient times they seemed absolutely ordinary, even necessary. One of these rites will be discussed below.
The essence of the sati rite
This ritual seems to many a terrible relic of the past. What does it consist of? The sati rite involves the self-immolation of the widow after the death of her husband. It was believed that such an action was performed by a woman of her own free will, but today it is not known whether there was pressure on the wives in Indian communities and how they treated those who refused to perform this ritual. In India, the sati rite suggested that the woman who performed it went to heaven.
Most often, the ritual was carried out a day after the death of the spouse. Exceptions were only if the husband died far from home. Before performing the sati rite, the woman washed her face thoroughly and put on her wedding clothes and jewelry, which was given to her by her dead husband. Thus, the couple seemed to complete their marriage.
The widow walked to the fire. She was accompanied by her closest relatives, whom the woman had to repent of sins committed for her life. If someone outsider met on her way, he should have joined the procession. Before the ceremony, the priest sprinkled water on his wife and husband from the sacred river Ganges and sometimes gave the woman a drink of herbal infusion, which has a narcotic effect (due to this, the sati ritual was less painful). The widow could both lie on a funeral pyre next to the body, and enter it when the fire had already flared up.
Sometimes she set fire to a fire on her own, while inside. It was also important that, although formally the sati ritual in India was voluntary, those who decided on it did not have the right to change their mind. If the widow tried to escape, they drove her back into the blazing fire with long poles. But it also happened that the ceremony was carried out purely symbolically: a woman lay down next to the body of the deceased spouse, a ceremony and a funeral ceremony were held, but before the fire was set on fire, the widow left it.
Sati was characteristic mainly for the representatives of the higher castes and for the wives of kings. In some communities, the deceased were buried together. In this case, the women were buried alive next to the deceased husbands. If a representative of the highest authority died, then his funeral was accompanied by mass self-immolations of not only wives, but also of concubines.
The history of the rite
Some scholars associate the emergence of such a tradition with the legend of the goddess Sati. She fell in love with God Shiva, but her father did not like the chosen one of her daughter. When Sati and Shiva once came to visit, his father began to insult his son-in-law. The goddess, unable to bear the humiliation of her husband, rushed into the fire and burned.
According to other researchers, this legend has nothing in common except the name of the goddess with custom. Indeed, Shiva did not die, Sati performed self-immolation, because she could not stand the unfair treatment of her beloved husband.
The sati ritual arose around the year 500 A.D. and is associated with the plight of the widows of Indian communities. It was believed that such women bring misfortune to everyone they meet on their way, so they were generally not recommended to leave the house. The position of the widow implied a number of restrictions:
- they were forbidden to eat at the same table with their family; their food consisted of liquid stew;
- you could not sleep in bed, only on the floor;
- the widow could not look in the mirror;
- she could not communicate with males, including with her sons.
Deviation from these rules was severely punished by severe beatings. Of course, living in such conditions was not easy. The woman either immediately preferred to commit self-immolation, or walked on him, unable to withstand moral pressure.
Some scholars of Indian culture see the causes of the sati rite in the decline of Buddhism and the emergence of castes. This ritual could be used as a method of submission within the caste. Others believe that it was a way of salvation for women from harassment. Since the widow remained unprotected, in addition to all restrictions, she often became an object of violence.
Jauhar
Like sati, this rite involved self-immolation. Only Jauhar was the name of the mass suicide committed by women (and sometimes old men and children) if their men died in battle. The key here is precisely death during the battle.
Anumarama
It is curious that even earlier on the territory of North India there was such a rite. He also implied suicide after the death of a spouse, but was really carried out voluntarily, and not only the widow, but also any relative or close person could fulfill it. No one exerted pressure, the anumrama was carried out solely out of a desire to prove fidelity and devotion to the deceased, or as a fulfillment of an oath given to the deceased during his lifetime.
The spread of the sati rite in different regions of India
Most cases have been recorded in Rajasthan since the VI century. Already from the 9th century, the ritual appeared in the South. On a smaller scale, sati was common in the upper plains of the Ganges River. Moreover, in this region there was an attempt to legally ban the rite by Sultan Muhammad Tuglak.
In the lower plains of the Ganges, ritual practice culminated in relatively recent history. In the states of Bengal and Bihar in the 18th century, a large number of acts of self-immolation were documented.
Similar rites in other cultures
A similar tradition is found among the ancient Aryans. For example, it is known that in Russia during a funeral ceremony in a boat or ship a slave was burned along with the deceased owner. In Scandinavian mythology, in the epic “The High Speech, ” the supreme northern god, the one-eyed Odin, advises to conduct a similar rite. Similar traditions also existed among the Scythians, for whom it was important that the wife stay with her husband even after his death.
Ban sati
The European colonists (Portuguese and British) began to declare the ceremony illegal. The first Indian to oppose sati was the founder of one of the first social reformist movements named Ram Mohan Roy.
He began the struggle with this rite after his sister committed self-immolation. He interviewed widows, gathered groups of opponents of the ritual, and published articles claiming that the sati tradition was contrary to the scriptures.
In 1829, Bengal authorities formally prohibited the ritual. Some sati supporters protested the ban, and the case went to the London Consulate. There they could only be considered in 1832 and a verdict was issued prohibiting the ritual. A little later, the British introduced amendments: if a woman reached adulthood, was not subjected to pressure and she wanted to make sati, she was allowed to do this.
Our days
The sati rite is prohibited by law in modern India. But such rituals still exist mainly in rural areas. Most of them are recorded in Rajasthan - the state where this rite was most common. Since 1947, there are approximately 40 cases of ritual self-immolation of widows. So, in 1987, a young widow named Rup Kanwar (pictured) performed sati.
After this incident, legislation against this ritual tightened both in Rajasthan and throughout India. However, they continued to perform the sati rite. In 2006, two cases happened at once: in the state of Uttar Pradesh, the widow of Vidyavati jumped into a funeral pyre, the same was done by a resident of the Sagar region named Yanakari. It is not known whether this was a voluntary ritual or whether women were under pressure.
At the moment, the Indian government is trying as much as possible to stop the practice of sati. Even spectators and witnesses of the ritual are punishable by law. One way to combat self-immolation is to destroy the meaning of holiness. Pilgrimages to the funeral pyres, the establishment of tombstones - all this is considered the praise of the ritual, and is strictly prohibited.
Attitude towards sati in different cultures
The rite of self-immolation is certainly creepy and intimidating. The description seems wild, and the few sati rites in India that can be found on the Internet are shocking. Accordingly, in many cultures it provokes criticism and condemnation.
The Muslims who invaded the continent took this rite as an inhuman phenomenon, and fought it in every way. The Europeans who came later also had a similar position. By spreading Christianity, they fought with all their might against similar local traditions. Portuguese, Dutch, French, British - everyone who had colonies in India sooner or later imposed a ban on sati.
