Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 398

HONOUR PAID TO THE
358
VICTIMS
victims sacrificed themselves is not always the result of
The poligar or prince
their own free will and resolution.
of Cangoondy in the Carnatic having died, neither entreaties
nor threats were spared to induce his widow to allow her-
It was urged that this
self to be burnt alive with him.
honourable custom had been observed for a long time past
in the family, and that it would be a great pity, indeed, to
allow it to fall into disuse. The funeral ceremonies were
delayed from day to day in the hope that the widow would
at last make up her mind to prefer a glorious death to
a remnant of life spent in contempt and opprobrium. It
was a fruitless attempt
The obstinate princess turned
a deaf ear to all the pressing entreaties of her relatives
and ultimately the deceased was obliged to depart alone
!
;
to the other world.
must, however, be confessed that some widows commit
enough, spurred on as they are by the
thought of the wretchedness of widowhood, by vanity, by
the hope of acquiring notoriety, perhaps also by a genuine
feeling of enthusiasm.
It should be remembered that they
are awarded boundless honours, and are even deified after
Vows are made and prayers addressed to them,
death.
and their intercession is sought in times of sickness and
adversity.
Such remnants of their bodies as have not been
entirely consumed by the fire are most devoutly gathered
together, and on the spot where they have sacrificed them-
selves small monumental pyramids are erected to transmit
to posterity the memory of these brave victims of conjugal
affection a tribute all the more conspicuous, because the
erection of tombs is almost unknown among the Hindus \
In a word, women who have had the courage to deliver
themselves so heroically to the flames are numbered among
the divinities, and crowds of devotees may be seen coming
in from all sides to offer them sacrifices and to invoke
It
this folly readily
—
their protection.
To
— must
—
and empty glory sufficient
make a deep impression on a feeble mind
these inducements of vain
of themselves to
be added the entreaties of relatives, who,
if
they
In some old Hindu houses, even to this day, may be seen, impressed
with turmeric paste on the walls, the marks of the hands of women who
underwent suttee. Ed.
1
—