Erotica In Arts. Part 1: Erotic Arts of India

The Erotic arts of India have been studied here primarily in three forms:

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 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.

Kamasutra

The Kamashastra is the ancient Indian treatise governing the relationship of humans and the sexes. Its origins can be traced to very first rules of conduct (along with the Dharmashstra and the Athrashastra) in Hinduism. Numerous saints and sages wrote commentaries on the treatise for the common man, known as the Kamasutra (kaa-ma-soo-tra, meaning Aphorisms on Love), but as Kamat points out in his Introduction to Erotic arts of India, most of these works have been lost.

Fortunately one such guide by sage Vatsyayana (a.k.a. Vatasayana) written in the early part of the Christian era (see a note on dating of the Kamasutra) is available today in its full form and beauty, and is generally referred to as The Kamasutra of Vatsyayana or simply the Kamasutra.

The various editions of Kamasutra have inspired the Indian art, dance, and music for centuries and artists have interpreted the the sensuality in their own skills, imagination, and art forms.

The Beauty of Khajuraho Temples

Expectations of Khajuraho

Just like people's perception of Taj Mahal changes after seeing it in reality, the feeling one gets at the Khajuraho temples is totally different from one's expectation. The beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and the same object may appear differently to different people. A maiden may appear as a mother to Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, as a sister to Swamy Vivekananda, as a daughter to an elderly person and as a lover to a romantic. I was interested in finding out what most people felt about these erotic sculptures, and observed them from a vantage point in Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh. As they rested under a tree, a Tamilian couple regretted having come all the way and having ignored their own temples. A Bengali couple complained about the tourism brochure they had seen to take this trip. Apparently the brochure had close-ups of only the best sculptures. A Maharashtrian family seemed to think that the higher they went, the better the sculptures, and spent most of their time climbing up and down.

A well-equipped frequenter of horse races pulled out his binoculars but was disappointed that the additional lens did not help improve the visual quality of the sculpture. A family man from Andhra spent all his time attending to his young children and eating the food that his wife distributed, as if the sculptures did not matter. The leader of a gang of youngsters, to preempt the disappointments of his friends, explained, "Our ancestors were very virile; they had to have sex several times a night. If they couldn't find many women they enjoyed the same partner in several positions. These sculptures were erected for their benefit."

A Frenchman and his daughter looked as if they were solving a mysterious problem and analyzed every sculpture in the ultimate detail. Sometimes they argued before agreeing. A newly wed American couple wondered about the advances the Indians had made in the 10th century. The young man must have whispered "Just as we tried the Indian curry, why not try an Indian position?" The couple laughed naughtily and went on to the next temple.

Hundreds of others came, saw the sculptures, passed their own judgments, and left. But none seemed to be excited by looking at them. They all seemed disappointed that the eroticism they had expected was missing. Travel brochures and exaggerated publicity are responsible for this. The travel guides too seemed to exaggerate the sculpture and regularly cooked up stories in order to extract tips. No wonder that those who come here expecting a Las Vegas will be disappointed, because there is only pure beauty and no perversion in these temples. Creations such as a cabaret or pornography, which are designed to excite human sexuality, are absent here. Even the magnetism of a curvaceous female body is missing from these sculptures. Just as we do not think of sex when seeing the image of a half clad Laxmi (a.k.a. Lakshmi ) or Saraswati (Hindu deities), we cannot think of sex at these temples.

Why Erotica in Temples?

There are different opinions on why temples were decorated with sexually explicit sculptures. One group argues that the old kings lived in obscene luxury and that they used these for excitement. Another group thinks that it was part of sexual education in ancient India: since most people visited temples, it was an appropriate place for mass communication. Some scholars say that since Hinduism believes in the efficacy of all four paths to Moksha (Dharma, Artha, Yoga, and Kama), these sculptures were provided to assist in the last of these four paths. Since these sculptures are limited to the outer walls of the temples, some people interpret them as a symbolic gate to reaching God. It is possible that at the time just preceding the construction of these sculptures, monastic Buddhism was prevalent, people were losing interest in the householder-life, and the temples were built to attract people to sex and family life and to renew Hinduism.

Some others go to the extent of saying that the Khajuraho temples themselves are built upon the model of an ultimate seductress. The steps are like the feet, the Ardhmandapam are the knees, the Mandapam represents the curvaceous thighs, the sanctum-sanctorum is like the ovaries, and since it is very dark where the Linga is installed, it represents the sexual organ, etc. For a long time, the pundits have wondered why it was necessary to decorate a place of worship with sexual material, but if one observes the materialistic (Loukika) thoughts of Hinduism, there is nothing unnatural about them.

Why Not?

How can the Indians criticize the Mithuna (mating) sculptures while worshiping Mahadev (Shiva) as a symbol of male and female organs? "All of life is God's magic;" we are all parts of divinity; our scriptures argue that to attain moksha, and to dedicate ourselves to dharma and adhyatma, we should first experience sexual fulfillment. The one who wrote the Kamasutra was none less than a sage! When the Gods themselves cannot escape the web of erotic love (Kama), what about us mere mortals? We have saints and mystic figures (Purana-Purusha) who have sinned, we have sages who have abandoned their years of renouncement for a beautiful woman, we have deities who have slept with others' wives, we have those who have fathered deer, we have those who have made love to and deceived even the Sun God, and we certainly have those who have conceived before marriage. If one were to make a list of these incidents that appear in Hindu scriptures, one could put western societies to shame. If one concedes that sex is an important and integral part of life, mortals must experience it completely. Only perversions are excluded.

Not all nations can have the same laws or customs about sexual behavior. What is considered natural in one may be prohibited in another. In the same country, what is considered perversion may eventually become to be acceptable. In India we consider kissing as a sexual act whereas in western countries it is a symbol of affection and is used just like a handshake. In America, most parts of society and the government do not object to exposing the body, except for the private parts. In England and France, nude dancing in theaters is a popular art form. In Scandinavian countries there is no restriction on nudity and their girls provide all the poses required by all of Europe. A Portuguese president and a Spanish president banned sexual magazines and pictures in order to make their citizens more "civil." It is said that after they died, the prevalence of pornographic literature skyrocketed in the two countries! In England where they once punished a scholar such as Oscar Wilde for homosexuality, the practice is legal today (1997). In the holy land of India, where it was once thought that embryo-homicide (bhroona-hatya) was a great crime, today it is a legal process, rewarded by the government. How quickly the standards of acceptance change!

Unlike the westerners, the Indian artists did not depend on live models for their creativity. However, some intellectuals have measured the Khajuraho sculptures and argue that they are of the same proportions as human bodies. I fail to recognize the relationship between being of the same proportions and using live models. I believe that these sculptures were created by the artist's imagination of lovemaking positions prevalent at that time, or based on the rules outlined in the Kamasutra. Irrespective of how they were modeled, we have to agree on the extraordinary capabilities of the sculptors. No Indian has to be ashamed of these temple sculptures. On the other hand, we should be proud of the advanced representations of sexuality made thousands of years before Alfred Kinsey published his scientific analysis of human sexuality in 1948.

State-of-the Art?

Just as we begin scientific research today by performing a wide survey of existing material on the topic, the ancient Indians must have first put together all the available information at the time on the topic (sexuality). The Kamasutra of Vatsyayana and some others support this argument. We do not know how many such masterpieces were available, as they have disappeared since. If indeed these manuscripts are missing today we should be really happy that the artists took the time to capture the contents of the manuscripts in stone. There is an argument in the modern world that prosperity leads to increased sexual activity. It is possible that in the very prosperous times of ancient India, people were more relaxed and therefore engaged themselves in quenching physical hunger. If indeed these temples represent the social life at the time, we again must be proud of the land of abundance that was India.

If we concede that these sculptures are completely imaginary, then we must admire the grand imagination of our ancestors! It must have taken enormous talent to sculpt postures that artists never practiced or saw. Many of the sculptures have the artists names carved under them and it is impossible for me to think that these creations were considered vulgar, if the sculptor felt compelled to claim artistic ownership.

Although Khajuraho is most famous for these sculptures, most Indian temples have them in one form or another. Belur, Halebidu, Somanathupura, and Nugguhalli temples of the Hoysala period have many such beautiful sculptures. The Badami and Banashankari temples of the Chalukya times, and the Vijayanagar temples of Bhatkal, Lepakshi and Hampi have these too. The Meenakshi temple of Madurai and Veeraranarayan temple of Gadag has erotic sculptures on their Gopuram. Ancient Indians thought that the appropriate use of sex was an art. Perhaps that's why they called pleasure girls as artists. Many of these pleasure girls treated their profession as a form of devotion to God, and refined it as an advanced fine art. If you observe the Khajuraho temples from this perspective, you will notice the real beauty of the sculptures. And then you can't have enough of it! The parents who wish to teach their children the fine difference between sex and art should take their children to Khajuraho.

Erotic Sculptures of Mud-Bhatkal Temple

Bhatkal is a small town on the west-coast highway along the Arabian sea in Karnataka. Historically, it was an important port and played a vital role in trade during the glory days of Vijayanagara empire. The Saraswats (locally known as Konkanis) who patronized the coastal trade and amassed a lot of wealth used it for philanthropic work and temple constructions. Santappa Nayak, who traded in forces from Arabia, purchased a piece of land from the local government and constructed the Tirumala temple in 1555 A.D. Petty trades of areca-nut were donated liberally for erecting the Adike Narayan Temple. Two brothers, Bala Kini and Narayan Kini built the Raghunatha Temple in 1567 A.D. In the same year, Lakkarsa Kamat constructed the Lakshmi Narayan Temple. The erotic sculptures have a lion's share in Khetappayya Narayan Temple built in 1546 A.D. Most of the temples built are in hard granite stones and overlaid with copper plates or stone slabs. Each temple consists of "Garbha-Griha" (sanctum), and a "Sukhanasi" which is surrounded by stone blinds.

The Khetappayya Narayan Temple

The Khetappayya Narayan temple is encircled by huge corridors, inner walls are decorated with panels depicting the social life of the period. Each panel measures about 4 X 3 ' and are located in separate niches. Inter-nitch spaces are decorated with floral designs. It is of importance and interest that all men and women are depicted in their contemporary dresses and ornaments. The nobles are shown with kulavi, an elongated cap, typical Vijayanagar period head wear. They have long sleeved shirts and fine dhotis which have a great resemblance to the saris worn by the women of the times. The common men have their turbans and a just a piece of coarse cloth around their waists. The women have very prominent hair ball tied just behind the head. A single piece of sari covers entire feminine body. The ornaments are very simple and down to the earth.

Medieval Social Life ?

The successive panels are not inter-related. The panels on erotica are inter-mixed that depict social life. Each panel is like a framed photograph of sixteenth century "Every Day Life". (see also: excerpts from Social life in Medieval Karnataka) Thus the sculptors have successfully recorded intimate personal lives of the people of that era for the benefit of posterity. Different panels could be very profitably studied in order to trace initiation to logical conclusion of erotic activities. It is generally believed in India that there is no need for teaching, coaching, or classroom for performing sexual activities. It comes naturally by observation and experimentation. This philosophy has been successfully depicted in these panels. An young woman who has attained age of puberty sits on the outer veranda of her house and wonders at the wheel-barrow game of the male and female street dogs. Near by in a specially provided platform a domesticated parrot is busy feeding on ripe fruit, unmindfully what is going on around. The lady's repeated such observations sure to kindle erotic desires in her.

Seduction

Physical vicinity and contact are two important factors which trigger erotic desires. In one of the panels a youthful lady is engrossed in churning curds in order to extract maximum butter out of it. Her standing posture, body curvatures and vigorous movements stimulates sexual desires in a man who is continuously observing from behind. In another situation a romantic man happens to track down a glamorous lady engrossed in her toilet. As she keeps on decorating her curvaceous body parts, one after the other, he gets more and more erotically provoked. Very soon a stage is reached when he is not able to refrain any more and hence indulges in self gratification. In an unusual panel a young lady is relaxing on cot, with her head resting on a pillow. A man younger to her volunteers to massage her tired body. Once he gets her consent, he commences working on her legs, then thighs. If she does not exhibits any resistance he might proceed to massage her vital organs as well! A sweet loving lady engrossed in cleaning utensils attracts attention of a man who could not refrain from the temptation and makes a hasty entry into her from rear. There are several panels which indicate that very intimate moments are prerequisite to kindle sexual desires. "A couple on a swing" is an interesting study. While swinging themselves merrily their bodies are shown in very intimate contact with each other. They have crossed their sensitive thighs, the lady has extended her right arm on man's shoulders while the man's left arm fondles her breast. In "Talking only no action" panel, the couple is relaxing on a mattress, the man pretending as if is explaining a point coolly contacts her thigh with his left leg. The lady reciprocate his moves by her willingness gestures. In "Love me more, dear" panel a man and his woman, sitting on a cot are indulging in caressing each other. An attendee, caring a dagger in his hand offers the "drinks" to the lovers. In "Don't worry, I am here" panel, an aroused woman indulges herself in masturbation, while a man next to her depicted as if he says, "Don't worry I can perform all actions that your body in need". In "I'm ever willing and ready" a mans refrains from making advances towards his woman who is busy in her vanity.

Positions and Details

There are number of panels which depict different stages, positions and stages of coitus. A warrior who was about to leave for war front was coaxed by his mistress to have sex with her. The couple is shown on soft mattress spread over and wooden cot and are in the process of physically stimulating each other. An young couple is having the sex in standing position. He has clasped her firmly by entangling her waist by his right foot. He has engaged himself in kissing her lips, fondling her breasts and insertion in her genitalia. Another couple is shown in a "wheelbarrow" position. Her belly pressed to the ground, she holds his hair ball for grip, kisses him passionately. He holds her legs either side of his belly in order to insert and act very smoothly. It seems even the ascetics could not refrain from attraction of feminine body. In one such panel two sexually aroused and totally nude saints are courting a maiden. She is well-built and very strong compared to her seeker. The child birth has also been found among these panels as it is the natural culmination of all these erotic activities. In sculpture a lady seated on a cushioned platform is in labor. The two attending women are trying to soothe her pain and console her. A young nurse sitting on the ground welcomes the child out of its mother's womb. The sculptor has taken special care to show all the details in the panels. Some are detailed enough to show the lady's clitoris.

Sex and Cruelty

Based on these temple sculptures, it seems that sexual crimes were abundant in medieval times. Many panels depict extra marital sex and adultery. In an unusual panel, a worrier husband is about to punish his wife's paramour after catching them in a sexual act. The wife rushes to her lover's rescue and pleads that it is she who is guilty and not her lover. In a similar situation another husband catches his wife by her hair and ruthlessly kicks her naked body. In another panel a husband has tied his lady's both hands with rope and is continuously spanking her with a cane.

Author: K. L. Kamat

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