Keyword: India – Image Gallery
The building for King Dasaratha's sacrifice (Mughal India) (1594)
from: Miniature (35.4 x 21cm), fol. 27r
Christie's, London
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
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.
the young Hindu woman accompanies her bridegroom's coffin to the funeral pyre and decides to commit sati (1657)
from: Walters manuscript W.649 (Burning and Melting)
The Walters Art Museum
Preparation for a Suttee (1816)
British Library, London (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]
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
Deities and Demons Performing the Yajna Sacrifice from the Devi Mahatmya (18th)
from: India, Rajput
Princeton University Art Museum
Francis Xavier (17. sec)
Museu de São Roque, Lisbon
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
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)
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]
Indian Sacrifice by Behaeding (16th Century)
Biblioteca Casanatense, ms. 1889, c. 86r, Rome
Vishnu, Brahman and three other deities perform a yagna, a fire sacrifice (1800-1899)
London, Wellcome Collection
The Funeral Pile of a Husband (1810)
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
Handprints of women who committed sati
Wall of the Junagarh Fort (Bikaner, Rajasthan, India)
Immolation of a Hindoo Widow (1814)
from: Lester. The Gallery of Nature and Art, 1814
London, Wellcome Collection
Burninge of a Banion Woman (1630s)
from: Banerjee, P. Burning Women, New York, Palgrave-Macmillan, 2003, p. 123
A Gentoo Woman Burning Herself (1770)
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
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.
Brulement des femmes (1700)
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
Femmes Benjanoises brulees (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
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
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]
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
The feast before the sacrifice (1712)
from: Ramayana, Bala Kanda, Ms Add. 15295, fol. 31
British Library, London [from Udaipur]
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
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
Handprints left by the wives of the maharaja before the Sati [1843]
Mehrangarh Fort, Rajasthan, India
Emperor Jahangir and Prince Khurram at the gathering for the Feast of the Sacrifice (1615-1625)
from: India
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Museum für Islamische Kunst
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.
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
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
Indian Sacrifice (16th Century)
Biblioteca Casanatense, ms. 1889, c. 80r, Rome
Sutteeism on the Banks of the Ganges (1860)
from: Montgomery Martin, R. The Indian Empire, c.1860
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
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 Ruler Performing Yajna (Fire Ritual) (1801 - 1900)
Islamic & Indian Paintings, The Dexter Collection Part II, London
Human sacrifice among the Khonds in India: a victim (meriah) about to be dismembered (1860)
London, Wellcome Collection
Favorite Wife of Sevajee (1851)
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
Satī. The bride immolates herself on the funeral pyre (1657)
from: Isfahan, Iran
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Burning of a Hindu Widow at Her Husband’s Funeral Pyre (1666?)
from: Banerjee, P. Burning Women, New York, Palgrave-Macmillan, 2003, p. 87
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)
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
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
Suttee, with Lord Hastings shown as accepting bribes to allow its continuation (1815)
London, Wellcome Collection
Indian Woman Burning Alive (18th century)
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
"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
Abbruciamento delle mogli vedove (1740-56)
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
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
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 indouve hallant (1825)
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
Suttee Pillar at a Benares Burning Ghat (19th century)
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
The sacrifice of the horse (asvamedha) by King Yudhisthira [1598 - 1605]
from: Ramznama
Louvre, Paris
Woman Throwing Herself in the Pyre (1699)
from: Banerjee, P. Burning Women, New York, Palgrave-Macmillan, 2003, p. 94
Empire of Great Mogol (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
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]
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
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
Historica Relatio1 (1598)
from: Peruschi, G. Historica Relatio, de Potentissimi Regis Mogor, Mainz, Breem, 1598
Crucified Christ (17. sec)
Museu de São Roque, Lisbon
Reliquary Casket (16. sec)
Museu de São Roque, Lisbon
Hindu Princess Committing Suttee (17th century)
Wellcome Library, London
Horse sacrifice (Asvamedha) (1712)
from: Ramayana, Bala Kanda, Ms Add. 15295, fol. 33
British Library, London [from Udaipur]
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
Woman Committing Sati (17th century)
Harvard Art Museum, Boston (https://harvardartmuseums.org/art/165399)
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
Reliquary of Joao de Brito (1694-98)
Museu de São Roque, Lisbon
Indian Sacrifice with Harrows (16th Century)
Biblioteca Casanatense, ms. 1889, c. 88r, Rome
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
Woman Going to Burn (1811)
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
King Sagara performs a sacrifice (1712)
from: Ramayana, Bala Kanda
British Library, Add. 15295, f.105
Four priests perform a yagna, a fire sacrifice to Agni [1800-1900]
London, Wellcome Collection
A mountain city with multistoried hill architecture. Outside the gates on the right is a Saivite shrine with a lingum covered by floral offerings to which a goat is led, probably for sacrifice. (17th)
from: Unidentified Hindu chronicle of a King
Metropolitan Museum, New York
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
Hindoo Woman throwing herself (19th century?)
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html
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
Woman Thown into the Pyre (1563)
from: Banerjee, P. Burning Women, New York, Palgrave-Macmillan, 2003, p. 99
Two boys preparing to sacrifice a young buffalo, Vārānasi , India (1920)
Yale University Library
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
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
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
Ceremony of Burning a Hindu Widow (19th century)
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1800_1899/hinduism/sati/sati.html