Monuments of Sutteeism in the Kangra Valley.
Photographer: Bourne, Samuel
Medium: Photographic print
View of sati stone memorials under a tree in the Kangra valley, taken by Samuel Bourne in the 1860s. Sati or the custom of a widow immolating herself on her husband’s funeral pyre was practiced by some Hindus, particularly the Rajputs. Sati slabs were placed in memory of the women who committed sati, an act that was consisted 'virtuous' at that time. The practice of Sati was banned by the British in 1829 but it took a few decades before it vanished.