The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c9.75

c9.75

Even widows intensely anxious to follow their husbands were likely to recoil and jump out under the agony of the flames of fire. So special funeral arrangements were made in the case of a Satī. The funeral pyre was piled in a deep pit in many parts of the country, especially in the Deccan and Western India. This rendered an escape impossible. A Mysore inscription refers to a lady going out to become a Satī as going forth to the fire pit to die (*E. C.*, Vol. IV, 2, Hg. No. 18). Barbosa and Linschoten have also referred to this method. In Gujarat and northern U. P., a wooden house, about 12 feet square, was constructed and the widow was tied to one of its pillars. In Bengal the widow's feet were tied to posts fixed into the ground; she was thrice asked whether she really wished to go to heaven, and then the pyre was lighted. Where burial was practised, the widow was interred along with her husband. This was the case in Andhra province in the 16th century.