Widows in Hinduism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Widows in Hinduism - Essay Example eatly be pegged on different traditions, content and themes of various contexts in history and authenticity and authority of texts and other sources of information that they rely on for history purposes. For instance, some traditions in Hindu kingdoms which used Manusmrti texts to refer their history advocated in many occasions to restricting women rights whereas the modern Hindu society has a new perspective on women and their roles in the society. In general, different traditions within these kingdoms dictated the roles and position of women in that while some advocated male chauvinism, some kingdoms included respected courtesans; sacred women to worship and service their deities, educated and trained women in their kingdoms and those who could perform extra ordinary activities such as magic (Fisher & Adler, 2011). Books and other literary works have been written on the subject matter, women and Hinduism, with majority concentrating on the treatment of women before and after the Br itish colonial rule, and this article will reflect on the Hinduism’s understanding of widowhood and traditional treatment of widows. During British colonial rule, child marriage was a common practice in India where girl children as young as below ten years could get married to an older man; a practice/ tradition of some societies where women were treated as sex slaves or believed to have a role of a â€Å"house wife† irrespective of their age. The major problem was when a husband dies as the widows had a diminished role and position in the society and were required to spend their lives languishing in poverty and constantly worshiping God; restricted to the right of re-marrying and having a happy family with another man. Re-marrying being treated like a taboo, the widows had to be confined in an ashram for Hindu widows to spend their lives in renunciation, segregation from other society members so as to expiate bad karma and to relieve their families of financial and emotional burdens.