It is unnecessary here to enter into the controversy whether or not the rite was based on a misinterpretation or perversion of one of the sacred texts. That in old times the Satî was treated with exceptional honour is certain. In some places she went to the burning ground richly dressed, scattering money and flowers, and calling out the names of the deities, with music sounding and drums beating. In some places she used to mark with her hands the gateways and walls of the chief temple, and she sometimes marked in the same way a stone for her descendants to worship, a practice to which reference will be made later on. On such stones it was the custom to carve a representation of her, and in many places a Chhatri, or ornamental cenotaph pavilion, was erected in her honour. The small shrines in honour of the village Satî are found often in considerable numbers on the banks of tanks all over Upper India. They are visited by women at marriages and other festivals, and are periodically repaired and kept in order. According to Mr. Ibbetson, [385] in the Delhi territory, these shrines take the place of those dedicated to the Pitri, or sainted dead. They often contain a representation in stone of the lord and his faithful spouse, and one of his arms rests affectionately on her neck. Sometimes, if he died in battle, he is mounted on his war steed and she walks beside him; but her worshippers are not always careful in identifying her shrine, and I have seen at least one undoubted Revenue Survey pillar doing duty as a monument to some unnamed local divinity of this class.
Among the warrior tribes of Râjputâna, the Satî shrine usually takes the form of a monument, on which is carved the warrior on his charger, with his wife standing beside him, and the images of the sun and the moon on either side, emblematical of never-dying fame. Such places are the scene of many a ghostly legend. As Col. Tod writes in his sentimental way [386]--"Among the altars on which have burnt the beautiful and brave, the harpy or Dâkinî takes up her abode, and stalks forth to devour the heart of her victims." The Râjput never enters these places of silence, but to perform stated rites or anniversary offerings of flowers and water to the manes of his ancestors. There is a peculiarly beautiful Satî necropolis at Udaypur, and the Satî Burj, or tower at Mathura, erected in honour of the queen of Râja Bihâr Mal of Jaypur in 1570 A.D., is one of the chief ornaments of the city. [387]