Sati - Widow Burning in India - Sakuntal Narasimhan
KORTE INHOUD
Outlines the reasons that the officially outlawed practice of sati, the burning of widows, still persists in India, indicating that the traditional role of women in this culture has changed little over time. Narasimhan delves into education, religion, compulsion, male chauvinism and the devaluation of women.
Bombay 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 sa...
Bombay 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 sa...
