Keyword: India – Image Gallery
Woman Committing Sati (17th century)
Harvard Art Museum, Boston (https://harvardartmuseums.org/art/165399)
The Ekahum ceremony, consisting of the release of a bull. A young bull stands in the courtyard of the deceased's house. His eldest son performs a sacrifice with rice, plantains and three brass pots of water decorated with mango leaves. The widow is dressed in her finest clothes and a feast is given to the Brahmins (ca 1820)
from: The Lives of the Brahmins [Ms Add.Or. 4354]
British Library, London
Handprints of women who committed sati
Wall of the Junagarh Fort (Bikaner, Rajasthan, India)
Hindoo Woman about to be Buried (1811)
from: Goldsmith, J. Geography on a Popular Plan, London, Richard Phillips, 1811
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
Hindu Princess Committing Suttee (17th century)
Wellcome Library, London
Nine female deities (?) performing a yagna, a fire sacrifice (1800-1900)
London, Wellcome Collection
Scene of a Sati, with a woman throwing herself into the flames amid a crowd playing trumpets. Above, a winged devil holds the banner with the book's title and the torch with which he lights the ritual fire. (1670)
from: Abraham Rogerius, Le Théâtre de l’idolatrie ou la porte ouverte, Amsterdam, Jean Schipper, 1670, title page
Suttee (1878)
from: Murray Smith, D. Round the World: A Story of Travel Compiled from the Narrative of Ida Pfeiffer, London, 1878
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
Rāma sends out his entire army, headed by Lakṣmaṇa and Vibhīṣaṇa, to fight Indrajit at the Nikumbhilā grove, where he is performing more magical sacrifices. Indrajit is sacrificing to the fire again with a black goat, while around him a furious battle is raging between Lakṣmaṇa and his allies and the other demons. Vibhīṣaṇa has advised Rāma to send Lakṣmaṇa to finish off Indrajit at the place where he is performing his magical arts, before he can make himself even more powerful. Inscribed above Indrajit: Iṃdrajit. (ca 1653)
from: Ramayana [ms Add. 15297(1), fol. 115]
British Library, London [from Udaipur]
Indian Sacrifice (16th Century)
Biblioteca Casanatense, ms. 1889, c. 80r, Rome
Bramenes cum mortuus est (1598)
from: Banerjee, P. Burning Women, New York, Palgrave-Macmillan, 2003, p. 92
Four priests perform a yagna, a fire sacrifice to Agni [1800-1900]
London, Wellcome Collection
Ritual killing of a goat and a fox during ceremonies in honor of Vishnu and Shiva (1670)
from: Abraham Rogerius, Le Théâtre de l’idolatrie ou la porte ouverte, Amsterdam, Jean Schipper, 1670, p. 224
Idolatres (1685)
from: Allain Manesson Mallet, Description de l'Univers, , contenant les differents systêmes du monde, les cartes générals et particulières de la géographie ancienne et modern. Vol.: De l'Asie.
Les veuves du Cormandel (1725)
from: van der Aa, P. La galerie agreable du monde. Tome premier des Indes Orientales, Leiden, c. 1725
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
Human sacrifice among the Khonds in India: a victim (meriah) about to be dismembered (1860)
London, Wellcome Collection
Yaja and Upayaja perform a sacrifice for the emergence of Dhrishtadyumna from the fire (1598)
from: from Adi-parva (volume one) of the Razm-nama (Book of Wars) adapted and translated into Persian by Mir Ghiyath al-Din Ali Qazvini, known as Naqib Khan (Persian, d. 1614) from the Sanskrit Mahabharata
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Musei Borgiani Velitris. Tab III pictura indica autographa exhibens sacrificium Túkam (1791)
from: Paulinus a S. Bartholomaeo, Systema Brahmanicum liturgicum, mythologicum, civile, Rome 1791
New York Public Library
Les femmes Indiennes se brulent (1725)
from: van der Aa, P. La galerie agreable du monde. Tome premier des Indes Orientales, Leiden, c. 1725
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
Brahmin undergoing the test of fire after prolonged penance and yoga practices; Yogi dragging heavy iron chains; and a man tied to a tree who has chosen to embrace death (1670)
from: Abraham Rogerius, Le Théâtre de l’idolatrie ou la porte ouverte, Amsterdam, Jean Schipper, 1670, p. 252
Narasimha Avatar of Vishn (1760)
from: Illustrated folio from a Bhagavata Purana (Ancient Stories of the Lord). Nurpur Fort, Nurpur, Himachal Pradesh, India
Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, Museum Associates Purchase, LACMA (M.82.42.8)
Horse sacrifice (Asvamedha) (1712)
from: Ramayana, Bala Kanda, Ms Add. 15295, fol. 33
British Library, London [from Udaipur]
"The First Adventure of the White Horse". The king performed the horse sacrifice in order to determine the extent of his rule. For one year a horse wanders and every land through which the horse passes becomes part of the king’s territory. Arjuna following the horse encountered the son-in-law of the god of fire, Agni, who creates a river of fire to block the warriors. Arjuna pleads with Agni, the god of fire that the horse be allowed to pass, saying that the horse sacrifice is in accordance with sacred Vedic injunctions, and that at the end of the year, the horse will be sacrificed to him, the god of fire himself. (1610-1617)
from: Page from the Khan Khanan's Razm Nama (Book of Wars)
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Valmiki instructs Kusha and Lava in the recitation of the "Ramayana" before the occasion of a sacrifice in Rama's palace (1597-1605)
from: The Ramayana (Tales of Rama; The Freer Ramayana), Volume 2
National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.
Woman Thown into the Pyre (1563)
from: Banerjee, P. Burning Women, New York, Palgrave-Macmillan, 2003, p. 99
The Funeral Pile of a Husband (1810)
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
Queen Kaikeyi reminds King Dasharatha about the sacrifices of King Bali and King Shivi, (c. 1710)
from: folio 39 from the Ayodhya Kanda (Book of Ayodhya) of a Ramayana. Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Mewar, Court of Amar Singh II
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Manner in which they Bury Themselves (1728)
from: Picart, B. Ceremonies et Coutumes Religieuses des Peuples Idolatres, tome II, Amsterdam, 1728
London, Wellcome Collection
Hindoo Woman throwing herself (19th century?)
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
Woman Throwing Herself in the Pyre (1699)
from: Banerjee, P. Burning Women, New York, Palgrave-Macmillan, 2003, p. 94
Ritualistic hanging from a carriage during the procession, as part of ceremonies in honor of Ganga. Numerous goats were sacrificed during this event (1670)
from: Abraham Rogerius, Le Théâtre de l’idolatrie ou la porte ouverte, Amsterdam, Jean Schipper, 1670, p. 246
Hanuman and the monkeys assault the demons, forcing Indrajita to break off the sacrifice that would make him invincible (1597-1605)
from: The Ramayana (Tales of Rama; The Freer Ramayana), Volume 2
National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.
Vedova di un indiano (1845)
from: Atlante Illustrato, Florence, 1845
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
A scene of Sati ritual Souryabha. Femme duchadja Jasingha se brulant. On represente icy la maniere en laquelle se brusla une femme de Radja Jasing appellée en la langue Indienne - Souryabha, qui veut dire lumiere du soleil, elle se brusla sans faire paroistre acucune crainte du feu ni de la mort. (1678-1686)
from: Nicolo Manucci, Histoire de l'Inde depuis Tamerlank jusquà Orangzeb [ms Libro Rosso, fol. 50v]
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
Satī, from a Sūz u Gudāz manuscript. The union of the couple on the pyre (1657)
from: Sūz u Gudāz ms, Iran, Walters Manuscript W. 649, fol. 19b (Burning and Melting)
The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland
Depiction of a satī on a map. A horned figure standing by a woman burning on a pyre (1522)
from: Claudii Ptolemaei... [Maps.C.1.d.11]
British Library, London
Manner in which the Women in India Burn (1728)
from: Picart, B. Ceremonies et Coutumes Religieuses des Peuples Idolatres, tome II, Amsterdam, 1728
London, Wellcome Collection
Sati (suttee): a woman immolating herself on her husband's funeral pyre. Gouache painting on mica by an Indian artist. (1800-1899)
from: India
London, Wellcome Collection
Sati Funeral Practice (1611)
from: Johannes Isacius Pontanus, "Rerum et urbis Amstelodamensium historia", Amsterdam, 1611, p. 189
Reliquary Casket (16. sec)
Museu de São Roque, Lisbon
Suttee Pillar at a Benares Burning Ghat (19th century)
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
Indian Woman Burning Alive (18th century)
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
A Gentoo Woman Burning herself (1768)
from: Cavendish Drake, E. A, Universal Collection of Authentic and Entertaining Voyages and Travels, London, J. Cooke, 1768
The sentinel in the employ of the Shah of Tabaristan prepares to sacrifice his son to the ghost of the Shah’s soul (Mughal India, court of Akbar) (1560)
from: from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Second Night
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Sacrificial Fire, from the 'Tula Ram' Bhagavata Purana (c. 1720)
from: Western India, Gujarat, Surat
The Cleveland Museum of Art (Gift of John D. Proctor)
Vedova indiana che si abbrucia (1816)
from: Ferrario, G. Il costumo antico e moderno, Florence, c.1816
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
Satrughna is wounded by Kusa and Lava during Rama's horse-sacrifice (1616)
from: Leaf from a dispersed manuscript of Razmnama
Harvard University, Fine Arts Library, SS_22349926
Burning of a Hindu Widow at Her Husband’s Funeral Pyre (1666?)
from: Banerjee, P. Burning Women, New York, Palgrave-Macmillan, 2003, p. 87
Abbruciamento delle mogli vedove (1740-56)
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
An illustration from the Ramayana. Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa protect the rishis' sacrificial fire from the rakṣasas (demons) (1800-1805)
from: This is from a series of eighty-four paintings on European paper and was once stored in a folder labelled: 'Ramayana Subjects, Deccani School: 1800-1805 (on European paper)'.
British Museum, London
Indian Sacrifice by Behaeding (16th Century)
Biblioteca Casanatense, ms. 1889, c. 86r, Rome
Handprints left by the wives of the maharaja before the Sati [1843]
Mehrangarh Fort, Rajasthan, India
Burninge of a Banion Woman (1630s)
from: Banerjee, P. Burning Women, New York, Palgrave-Macmillan, 2003, p. 123
The divine messenger (Agnipurusha) rises from the sacrificial fire to bear vessel of celestial food by Nadim (1597- 1605)
from: The Ramayana
National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.
Rishyasringa performing the ceremony for obtaining sons. He is shown chanting mantras and pouring obligations into a fire with the help of priests (1712)
from: Ramayana, Bala Kanda [Udaipur]
London, British Library, Add. 15295, f. 36
Veuve hindoue allant au bucher (1797)
from: Abdul-Kerym, Voyage de l'Inde a la Mekke, ca. 1797
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
The sacrificed horse is prepared (1712)
from: Ramayana, Bala Kanda, Ms Add. 15295, fol. 34
British Library, London [from Udaipur]
Snake Sacrifice [1690]
from: Udaipur, Rajasthan state, Mewar, India
Henri Vever Collection, Freer|Sackler gallery at the Smithsonian Institution
Historica Relatio1 (1598)
from: Peruschi, G. Historica Relatio, de Potentissimi Regis Mogor, Mainz, Breem, 1598
Funerailles des Femmes Benjanoises (1725)
from: van der Aa, P. La galerie agreable du monde. Tome premier des Indes Orientales, Leiden, c. 1725
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
A Suttee (1858)
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
Woman Going to Burn (1811)
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
The feast before the sacrifice (1712)
from: Ramayana, Bala Kanda, Ms Add. 15295, fol. 31
British Library, London [from Udaipur]
Scene of a sati. In the foreground, a widowed woman (encountered by Della Valle on November 12, 1623) on horseback holds a mirror and a lemon amidst a crowd. In the background, a woman throws herself into the flames of a funeral pyre (1665)
from: Della Valle, Pietro, De volkome beschryving der voortreffelijke reizen van de deurluchtige reisiger Pietro della Valle, edelman van Romen, in veel voorname gewesten des werrelts, sedert het jaer 1615, tot in 't jaar 1626 gedaan. Amsterdam, Abraham Wolfgang, 1666, vol. 5, pag. 163
In the palace, Rāvaṇa and his remaining brothers and sons are bowed down by grief and Rāvaṇa wonders how he can ever be victorious in this conflict, when so many demon champions have been slain. Another son, Indrajit, boasts that he will overcome Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa and sets out in his chariot, surrounded by other demons on elephants, horses and in chariots. In a separate chamber (the text actually says on the battlefield), he prepares offerings, seizing a young black goat by the neck, to the god of Fire in order to conjure up his most magical weapons and to make himself invisible. (ca 1653)
from: Ramayana [ms Add. 15297(1), fol. 97]
British Library, London [from Udaipur]
A scene with fakirs and ritualistic animal sacrificeFaquires Bequedes Mahometans (1678-1686)
from: Nicolo Manucci, Histoire de l'Inde depuis Tamerlank jusquà Orangzeb [ms Libro Rosso, fol. 50v]
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
Candrahasa sacrifices himself cutting off pieces of his own flesh and putting them on the fire [1598]
from: Razmnāmah by Abhinanda, India (The last volume of the Persian translation of the Mahābhārata commissioned in 990 by Akbar)
London, British Library, Or 12076 folio: 90v
Historica Relatio2 (1598)
from: Peruschi, G. Historica Relatio, de Potentissimi Regis Mogor, Mainz, Breem, 1598
Preparation for a Suttee (1816)
British Library, London (http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html)
Francis Xavier (17. sec)
Museu de São Roque, Lisbon
Brulement des femmes (1700)
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
Musei Borgiani Velitris. Tab I. Pictura exhibens sacrificium solis. Tav. II Pictura Indica autographa exhibens holocaustum ignis (1791)
from: Paulinus a S. Bartholomaeo, Systema Brahmanicum liturgicum, mythologicum, civile, Rome 1791
New York Public Library
Buddha explaining the correct sacrifices according to the Veda. The story of Kalki, the destruction of the tyrants, and the Indian representation of the Buddha and the avatara of Kalki. [1774]
from: Rites and Beliefs of the Hindus [Indian Company Paintings]
London, V&A Museum
Hindoo Widow Burning Herself with the Corpse of the Husband (1820)
from: Shoberl, F. The World in Miniature: Hindoostan, London, Ackerman, 1820s
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
A Gentoo Woman Burning Herself (1770)
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
Ignatius Fialho, missionary in the Maghul empire, surrounded by Muslims woth swords (1675)
from: Tanner, Mathias, Societas Iesu usque ad sanguinis et vitae profusionem militans, Typis Universitatis Carolo-Ferdinandeae in Collegio Societatis Jesu ad S. Clementem, Prague 1675, p. 342
Favorite Wife of Sevajee (1851)
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
Anshuman finds the horse and the ashes of his sixty thousand uncles. In great distress, he looks for water with which to sprinkle the ashes. His maternal uncle Garuda advises him to return with the horse in order to complete the sacrifice. He also says that the pure water of the river Ganges should be sprinkled on the ashes of his uncles in order for them to attain heaven (1712)
from: Ramayana, Bala Kanda, Ms Add. 15295, fol. 117
British Library, London [from Udaipur]
Rama accompanied by a golden statue of Sita performs the Ashwamehda Yajna. The sage Valmiki participates. They sit before a ritual Yajna fire. [1790]
from: folio from a dispersed Ramayana series
Sotheby's
Satī. Gentile women of the caste of the cattle drivers, who is buried alive with her husband after he had died [1540]
Codice Casanatense, Biblioteca Casanatense, ms. 1889, fol. 64r, Rome
The martyrdom of the prophet Zakariya, who, taking refuge in a tree, was sawn in half by two men. (1605 - 1610)
from: This album of 104 folios known as the Clive Album
London, V&A Museum
Naauw-keurige aanteekeningen van William Methold (1707)
from: van der Aa, P. Naauw-keurige aanteekeningen van William Methold, Presiden van de Engelsse Maatschappy, gehouden op sijn Voyagie, in het jaar 1619, Leiden, 1619
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
Suttee. Gouache painting by a painter of Thanjavur (Tanjore) [1800]
from: Tanjore
London, Wellcome Collection
