Religion and suicide

The Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, better known by its informal name Jonestown, was a remote settlement in Guyana established by the Peoples Temple, an American religious cult under the leadership of Jim Jones. Jonestown became internationally infamous when, on November 18, 1978, a total of 918 people died at the settlement, at the nearby airstrip in Port Kaituma, and at a Temple-run building in Georgetown, Guyana's capital city. The name of the settlement became synonymous with the incidents at those locations.

American UFO religion, whose members committed mass suicide in 1997

thumb|The Rajput ceremony of Jauhar, 1567, as depicted by Ambrose Dudley in Hutchinsons History of the Nations, Jauhar, sometimes spelled Jowhar or Juhar, was a practice of mass self-immolation by Rajput kshatriya women and girls in the Indian subcontinent to avoid capture, sex slavery, enslavement, and rape when facing certain defeat during a war. Some reports of jauhar mention women committing self-immolation along with their children, Jauhar performed to avoid rape and necrophilia by the invading armies. This practice was historically observed in the northwest regions of India, with the mo

is a type of Buddhist mummy. In Japan the term refers to the practice of Buddhist monks observing asceticism to the point of death and entering mummification while alive. Although mummified monks are seen in a number of Buddhist countries, especially in Southeast Asia where monks are mummified after dying of natural causes, it is believed that it is only in Japan where monks have induced their own deaths by starvation.

thumb|alt=Nishidhi stone with 14th century old Kannada inscription from Tavanandi forest|Nishidhi, a 14th-century Hero stone|memorial stone depicting the observance of the vow of Sallekhana with old Kannada inscription. Found at Tavanandi forest, [[Karnataka, India.]]

At the time of the Spanish conquest of Yucatán (1527–1546), Ix Tab or Ixtab ([iʃˈtaɓ]; "Rope Woman", "Hangwoman") was the indigenous Maya goddess of suicide by hanging. Playing the role of a psychopomp, she would accompany such suicides to heaven.

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Prayopavesa (, , ) is a practice in Hinduism that denotes the death by fasting of a person who has no desire or ambition left, and no responsibilities remaining in life. It is also allowed in cases of terminal disease or great disability. A similar practice exists in Jainism, termed Santhara.

perspectives of various religions on whether suicide should be permitted

thumb|Mughal painting of Sita undergoing the agnipravesham. Agnipravesham (), also called Agnipariksha () is the mythical practice of self-immolation described in Hindu literature. It is primarily associated with the ordeal of Sita in the Ramayana, and is regarded to be a custom inspired by Vedic tradition.

Christian theological perspectives on suicide

effects of religion on individual and public health