Sati was a historical practice in Hindu communities in which a widow sacrifices herself by sitting atop her deceased husband's funeral pyre. Although it is debated whether it received scriptural mention in early Hinduism, it has been linked to related Hindu practices in the Indo-Aryan-speaking regions of India. Greek sources from around 300 BCE make isolated mention of sati, but it probably developed into a real fire sacrifice in the medieval era within the northwestern Rajput clans to which it initially remained limited, to become more widespread during the late medieval era.
A 19th-century painting depicting the act of sati
The Sati of Ramabai, the wife of Peshwa Madhavrao I in 1772
Orchha Sati Shrine
The Eran pillar of Goparaja is considered as the earliest known Sati stone in India (circa 510 CE). The inscription explains: he "went to heaven, becoming equal to Indra, the best of the gods; and [his] devoted, attached, beloved, and beauteous wife, clinging [to him], entered into the mass of fire (funeral pyre)".
A pyre, also known as a funeral pyre, is a structure, usually made of wood, for burning a body as part of a funeral rite or execution. As a form of cremation, a body is placed upon or under the pyre, which is then set on fire.
An Ubud cremation ceremony in 2005
The funeral pyre of Chan Kusalo (the Buddhist high monk of Northern Thailand) at Wat Chedi Luang, Chiang Mai, Thailand
The tiered funeral pyre of Burmese Buddhist Monk at Pa-Auk Village, Mon State.
Buddhist monks procession in front of a pyre in Laos
