Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions c11.2

c11.2

The practice of *sati*, or the burning of a widow with the dead body of her husband, was a recognised institution at all periods and with all creeds, but seems to have been more actively revived in the fourteenth century under the Vijayanagar empire. The memorials of *sati*, which was entered on with perfect readiness, as duty-bound in honour, are found in all parts. They are known as *māstikal*, that is *mahā-sati-kal*, and are generally sculptured with a pointed pillar or post, from which projects a woman's arm, bent upwards at the elbow. The hand is raised, with fingers erect, and a lime-fruit is placed between the thumb and forefinger. This is what is alluded to in Sh 61, 62, and Md 103, where women are said to have given arm and hand. No clear explanation has been obtained of the symbolism. Some of the stones are accompanied with elaborate inscriptions. Such is the stone of the fifth century to the memory of the Kadamba king Ravivarmma's wife (Sb 523). Another is the beautifully pathetic Belatūr stone of 1057 (Hg 18).