Since ancient times it has been considered in India that all the beauty of a woman is concentrated in her voluptuous body. Temple bas-reliefs praise its flowing lines and graceful movements. As realized by the Hindus, a voluptuous shape symbolizes health, wealth and a satiated life which is a mere dream for most Indians. It might be because of this fact that the fashion for skinny girls so much admired in the West has not taken on there.

Sacral female power is symbolized by the ‘tali’ necklace which the bridegroom puts on his bride during the wedding ceremony. It means that the man gives himself up under the magical protection of the woman. The wife never shows her tali to anyone in order not to incur trouble. If the necklace thread is torn, the husband is in for changes for the worse in his fate. In other words, the husband’s health and wellbeing is completely dependant upon his wife.

However, along with all these virtues, to be a woman in India is not the most pleasant mission. Hindus think that if you were born a woman, your karma is heavily damaged. A female shell is nothing but wages of sin of your previous life. It is probably related to the precarious position of a married woman. Her happiness is directly dependant on her husband’s health. For a Hindu woman, to become a widow is as good as to be buried alive. That is why Hindu women still burn themselves in their husbands’ funeral pyres. This ceremony is called ’sati’.

According to the legend, it was the goddess Parvati who established the tradition of self-immolation. She came to Earth as Sati. Sati’s father greatly disliked his daughter’s husband, god Shiva. Once, the old man gathered a feast and invited all gods except Shiva. Sati took it as an insult of her beloved husband. In protest, she ascended on a pyre. After that, wives began to sacrifice themselves to fire in order to show their devotion to their husbands.

Still, there is yet another version. In the Middle Ages, at the time of conquering campaigns, there existed the ‘johar’ practice in India. When a fortress besieged by enemies could no longer resist, women and children gathered in one room and set themselves on fire, so that they could not fall to the enemy. Before self-immolation women drank a narcotic substance to deaden the pain. But it was so terrible that the first tongues of fire made the widow sober. In ancient times, the Brahmin conducting the rite returned the fugitive female into the pyre with the help of a club with which he beat the woman on the head, and then thrust her back into the fire using a long pole.