ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the inscriptional approach on two important phases of a female’s life (i.e., marriage and widowhood). From the study of inscriptional evidence, it becomes apparent that inter-caste marriages were common. Foster and uterine relations were a natural outcome of bigamous and polygamous marriages. The inscriptions provide a vivid description of the diversion of a widow’s energies more towards fasts, austerities and the religious side with the justification that she tried to seek solace in religious and spiritual activities. The effect of the word ‘satī’ was so deeply venerated by the society of the period that it became a synonym of ‘virtuous woman’.
