An Introduction to the Erotic Arts of India
The year 1999 marked a great symbolic step in the history of the  erotic arts of India. Two thousand years ago, sage Vatsyayana wrote his landmark manuscript, the Kamasutra (erotic codes). One thousand years later, the Chandella kings (950-1050 A.D.) built one of the finest groups of temples in India, depicting erotic positions, at their capital Khajuraho. About five centuries later, king Kallarasa of Karnataka wrote an important treatise on the subject, "Janavashya" (1450 A.D.) in Kannada. In today's fast changing world, the values and sanctity attached to erotica and eroticism have also changed. Therefore, it has become necessary to re-evaluate the Erotic Arts of India in their true perspective.
Numerous writers, both Indian and foreign, have published their works on eroticism, mostly to feed the curiosity of westerners. In my decades of work on the subject, I have not come across a single book or paper that tried to study the topic without prejudice or without giving it a pornographic perspective. India thus lost immensely, through a wishful undermining of her history and art. This is an humble attempt to share my first-hand research and information about ancient erotic art and literature of India.
 To appreciate the erotic arts of India, one must understand the role of sex in the scheme of things according to Hinduism. Hinduism is a way of life according to prescribed codes. Every Hindu has to undergo sixteen denotary rituals (samskara) and four stages of life (ashramas). The final aim of life is salvation, which is the merging of the individual soul (atma) with the supreme soul (paramatma). One can attain salvation (moksha) through dharma, artha and kama. The ancient Indians took a healthy, integrated view of all aspects of life and gave sex its due importance in the overall picture. The pursuit of pleasure (kama) is one of the important aims of life, on the path to deliverance.
Figures of loving couples (mithuna) in various art forms can be found in the very early periods of Indian civilization. This theme has been depicted consistently for thousands of years throughout India. Such sculpture can be found on the shrines of Buddhist, Jain, Vaishnava, Shaiva, Shakti, and also other cults, which proves its trans-religious nature. Mithuna is like any other life process and hence no taboo or inhibitions are attached to it. The worship of genitalia has been prevalent for centuries and it is considered a part and parcel of Hindu worship.
Sources of Erotic Art
Paintings:
Due to their delicate nature, only a few paintings survived the onslaught of time and climatic hazards. The Narasimha Swamy temple of Sibi has such rare wall-paintings. In the last century, the kings of Mysore brought out some books of great importance, which are profusely illustrated with erotic art. Ancient books such as "Sougandhikaparinaya" and "Shritatwanidhi" contain illustrations (example) which are indirect and suggestive, and yet very modest. Indian miniatures such as Basholi, Kangra and Rajasthani styles have produced innumerable erotic paintings to cater to their rich clientele.
Wood Carvings:
Many temples in India celebrate an annual chariot-festival (Rathotsava). The chariot (which is really a mobile temple) is specially built with hard woods such as teak, and innumerable panels depicting mythological themes are carved around the chariot (Ratha). Occasionally, the panels contain astonishingly explicit erotic carvings.
Sculptures:
 The sculptural wealth has remained intact for centuries in spite of vandalism and mutilation by religious fanatics. The erotic sculptures of Khajuraho (in Madhya Pradesh) and Bhubaneshwar (Orissa) have been widely publicized, while others are almost unknown. In Karnataka State alone, there are a large number of such temples and sculptures, which will be studied individually.
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Khajuraho's Erotic Temples
A complex of temples in the India state of Madhya Pradesh near the village of Khajuraho (about 350 miles southeast of New Delhi) is one of India's most popular tourist destinations. Why? The answer is simple: sex - or at least sexuality. The temples are famous for their erotic art.
The location is not very attractive - one of India's hotter and more arid corners. There is no great (or even medium-sized) city in the vicinity. No nightlife or luxury. Khajuraho has all of 3,000 residents. People come to see the temples and not much else. The region was the religious (but not the political) capital of one of India's many petty states, the Chandela dynasty, during Europe's Middle Ages.
There were once 85 temples in the Khajuraho complex spread over an area of about eight square miles. While all sources seem to agree that there were 85 temples, the question of how many remain today is more technical. Sources vary from as few as 20 to as many as 28 - the difference of opinion resting on the question of whether this or that excavation-in-progress constitutes a temple, or just an archeological site. While the majority of the temples are either gone completely or lie in ruins and disuse, well over a dozen are well kept and still frequented by worshippers. One cluster of the temples is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site .
The temples are usually divided into three groupings. The Western Group includes the temples recognized by UNESCO. It is the largest and contains the oldest and best known temples: Chaunsat Yogini, Chitragupta, Jagdambi, Kandariya Mahadeo, Lakshmana, Matangesvara, Visvanatha, Varaha, and others. The temples in the Western Group are dedicated to Hindu gods.
The Eastern Group is a mixture of Hindu temples and Jain temples. Adinatha, Ghantai, and Parsavanatha are the Jain temples. Brahma, Javari, and Vamana are Hindu temples in this group. The Southern Group includes Chaturbhuj and Duladeo temples excavation began in 1999 on a temple called Bijamandala which may prove to be the largest temple in Khajuraho.
The Khajuraho temple complex is India's largest group of medieval Hindu temples. But that alone would not be enough to attract the level or tourist interests Khajuraho attracts were it not for the erotic (some would say explicit) sculptures decorating the exterior of so many of the temples. While the temples represent the pinnacle of a particular period of temple architecture in North India, plenty of fine examples of such architecture exist in much more comfortable and convenient locations.
Why are these temples different those found elsewhere in India? What was it that allowed the Chandela community to decorate their temples so prominently with erotic art when that same art, while present in other temples throughout India, features much less prominently in the design of most temples? There are a couple of theories on the issue.
Among the more feeble explanations offered for the preponderance of erotic sculptures at the Khajuraho temple complex is fear of lightning . The idea is that Indra, the god of thunder, is an avid voyeur and the erotic sculptures on so many of Khajuraho's temples were intended for his pleasure, in the hopes that he would not destroy something that he enjoyed so much. Why that rationale never spread to other parts of India is a mystery.
Other explanations include:
- The temples' sculptures are intended to illustrate portions of a Hindu religious text on love, the Kama Sutra .
- The Chandela dynasty was involved in a Tantric cult; Tantric mysticism teaches that the gratification of sexual desire is part of the path to self-knowledge and "the infinite." The art may have illustrated Tantric rites. Related to this explanation is the possibility that the Chandelas were involved in a form of Shaktism, a type of Hinduism that focuses on feminine aspects of divinity.
- The sculptures might simply show scenes from everyday life in Chandela India at a time when the dynasty lived in power and luxury.
- The art was an effort to draw followers away from aesthetic Buddhism and back to Hindu family life.
Since the temples were built over a period of 150 years or more, probably there is some truth in more than one of these explanations.
Are the sculptures art or pornography? When the British engineer T. S. Burt found the temples in the mid-1800's he was offended by the sculptures. The images are graphic and unabashed: there is kissing and caressing; nudity, both male and female; twosomes and threesomes, foursomes and fivesomes and on to orgies with ten or more participants; acts of intercourse that seem to defy gravity; passion, self-gratification, intimacy, and (occasionally) bestiality.
About 90% of Khajuraho's sculptures have nothing to do with sex.
Art or pornography? One author suggests that parents who would teach their children "the fine difference" between sex and art should take them here. I'm not sure the difference is clear, but it makes for good tourism. |
Kundali