https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=AgnipraveshamAgnipravesham - Revision history2026-07-31T01:28:27ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Agnipravesham&diff=471187&oldid=prevAsiaarts at 13:56, 17 January 20262026-01-17T13:56:45Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Practice in Hindu mythology}}<br />
{{Distinguish|Sati (practice)}}<br />
[[File:Sita Mughal ca1600.jpg|thumb|Mughal painting of Sita undergoing the agnipravesham.]]<br />
'''Agnipravesham''' ({{Langx|sa|अग्निप्रवेशम|lit=Fiery entrance|translit=Agnipraveśam}}),<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2017-08-29 |title=Agnipravesha, Agnipraveśa, Agni-pravesha: 11 definitions |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/agnipravesha |access-date=2022-11-05 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref> also called '''Agnipariksha''' ({{Langx|sa|अग्निपरीक्षा|lit=fiery ordeal|translit=Agniparīkṣā}}) is the mythical<ref>{{Cite book |last=Joshi |first=Vivek Vishnupant |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gqlXDwAAQBAJ&dq=agnipariksha+ordeal&pg=PT142 |title=History, Myth & Folktales in the Plays of Girish Karnad |date=2018 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=978-1387735457 |page=142 |language=en}}</ref> practice of [[self-immolation]] described in [[Hindu texts|Hindu literature]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dalal|first=Roshen|title=Hinduism: an Alphabetical Guide|date=2014|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=978-8184752779|location=London|oclc=1132344222}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Muralidharan|first=Kavitha|title=With just 11 stories this collection goes to the core of Tamil writer Jayakanthan's fiction|url=https://scroll.in/article/856588/with-just-11-stories-this-collection-goes-to-the-core-of-tamil-writer-jayakanthans-fiction|access-date=2020-06-09|website=Scroll.in|date=5 November 2017 |language=en-US}}</ref> It is primarily associated with the ordeal of [[Sita]] in the [[Ramayana]], and is regarded to be a custom inspired by [[Historical Vedic religion|Vedic]] tradition.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Herman |first1=Phyllis K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=97EYBwAAQBAJ&dq=agnipariksha+ordeal&pg=PA62 |title=The Constant and Changing Faces of the Goddess: Goddess Traditions of Asia |last2=Shimkhada |first2=Deepak |date=2009 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1443807029 |page=62 |language=en}}</ref><br />
<br />
== Legend ==<br />
The [[Valmiki's Ramayana]], which is the original [[Ramayana]], describes how Maya Sita enters the fire so that when [[Rama]] rescues the illusory [[Sita]] from Ravana's captivity and brings her back, the real [[Sita]] can emerge from the fire, and indeed, the real [[Sita]] returns from the fire.<br />
<br />
Some people misinterpreted this and said that [[Sita]] undergoes the agnipravesham to offer evidence of her chastity to her husband, [[Rama]], and the people of [[Ayodhya (Ramayana)|Ayodhya]], after suspicions are cast upon her virtue due to her abduction by [[Ravana]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Parimoo |first=Ratan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CckrAAAAMAAJ&q=agnipravesham+sita |title=Vaiṣṇavism in Indian Arts and Culture: Collected Papers of the University Grants Commission National Seminar on "Impact of Vaiṣṇavism on the Indian Arts" |date=1986 |publisher=Books & Books |isbn=978-8185016184 |pages=446 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Patra |first1=Dr Dipankar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F01WEAAAQBAJ&dq=agnipariksha+sita&pg=PA300 |title=Interface a National Research Anthology on Indigenous Language, Literature & Culture |last2=Banerjee |first2= Subhashis |last3=Doley |first3= Abani |last4=Chatterjee |first4= Biswarup |last5=Karmakar |first5= Sharmistha |last6=Kamsi |first6= Zenny |date=2021 |publisher=Book Rivers |isbn=978-9391000219 |page=300 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kishwar |first=Madhu Purnima |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5rSGAwAAQBAJ&dq=agnipariksha+ordeal&pg=PA127 |title=Zealous Reformers, Deadly Laws |date=2008 |publisher=Sage Publications India |isbn=978-8132100096 |pages=127 |language=en}}</ref> She invokes [[Agni]], the god of fire, who rescues her, thereby testifying to her fidelity to Rama.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Naidu |first=Vayu |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LIHYVC3fLRoC&dq=agnipariksha+sita&pg=PT18 |title=Sita's Ascent |date=2012|publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=978-8184757712 |pages=18 |language=en}}</ref><br />
<br />
== See also ==<br />
* [[Ramayana]]<br />
* [[Trial by ordeal]]<br />
* [[Sati (practice)|Sati]]<br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
{{Suicide navbox}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Religion and suicide]]<br />
[[Category:Cultural anthropology]]<br />
[[Category:Hindu practices]]<br />
[[Category:Religion and euthanasia]]<br />
[[Category:Ramayana]]</div>Asiaarts