The column pictured here is a Sati Stone from the 18th century, now housed in the British Museum. To us, it is a hideous and grim memorial, but it was envisioned to be a sacred monument and tribute commemorating a woman who had performed Sati (also Suttee) — self-immolation upon her deceased husband’s funeral pyre.
The origins of Sati, how widespread the practice was, and the degree to which widows were forced to commit this “holy suicide” are subjects debated by historians. However, Sati was undertaken by many Hindu widows for over a millennia and a half. The lives of widows in many periods of Hindu history were not good — they were shunned, their heads shaved, they were kept in poverty, with the idea behind this treatment stemming from a belief that women’s value lay solely in support of their husbands.
By undertaking Sati, on the other hand, widows could gain honor for supporting their deceased spouses — their sacrifice was thought to bring spiritual blessings upon the couple in a heavenly afterlife. And thus, the Sati Stone’s iconography speaks to the widow’s holiness. Her arm is raised in blessing, and she wears the bracelets of a married woman — upon becoming a widow, these bracelets were broken, but the Sati or “devoted one” is united with her husband in death. The sun and the moon also appear on this monument — they symbolize the woman’s eternal fame for performing such a heroic act.
The practice of Sati was finally outlawed in the 19th century, even though isolated cases of Sati 21st century have still occurred.
Source(s): _History Research Journal_ vol 5, issue 6, Dec 2019, Rekha IF ‘Sati Memorial Stones of Vijayanagara Period — A Study”. Image wiki.
