A ghastly ritual

This hand print is a sign of a woman having committed sati (sp?) upon the death of her husband. As the ritual was explained to me, upon the death of her husband, the devoted wife would dip her hand in henna and make a hand print on the side of the house and then burn herself atop her husband's burning body. Her friends and family would help her get doped up on opium to help her avoid panic in the process. Happily, this practice has been outlawed, but it seems to have persisted even into the 20th century. There are a lot of things about the Hindu funeral ritual that I really liked, but this bit was a little hard to take. We saw many red handprints.