India is a country, rich in heritage and culture. On his journey to India around the mid 19th century, a British engineer, Burt, was assigned the job of trekking through all the jungles in Central India. On his long journey; he came across a number of intricately engraved temples which were made out of yellow and pink sandstone portraying scenes of orgies – man and woman engrossed in love making, masturbation of man, and prostitutes in the act of intercourse. One of the most famous temples which portray the love making of man and woman and Kama Sutra are the Khajuraho temples in Central India. The Khajuraho temples are the embodiment of rich heritage and sculpture in India and have been termed as one of the best by UNESCO in 1986.The Khajuraho temples tempts the travelers and enthusiastic souls equally who are pleased to know more forms of art as well as various contortions of the human body.
Initially the temples of Khajuraho were termed as very offensive ones as they portrayed the very intimate moments of human beings to public. However, later on, they were said to be one of the most historic and creative forms of art viewed by people from all over the world. Out of 85 amazingly created Khajuraho temples, only 22 of them still exist. These temples were all constructed by the kings of Chandel dynasty.
The Kama sutra was a sex manual which was written by the Hindus in the medieval period. It portrayed all the different positions of love making between man and woman.Though engineer Burt deemed the temples ‘offensive’, ‘amazingly historic’ would have been a better description. The Khajuraho temples, of which only 22 of the original 85 remain standing, were created between 950 and 1150 by the Chandel kings. These Tantric sexual practices were extensively used in India all through medieval times and were duly privileged in the structural design of the era. The entire exterior of the outer walls in the Khajuraho temples portray human beings in erotic forms. However, since these temples have been created with a noble intention to worship deities, there are no erotic images or sculptures in the temples’ interior.
The sexual sculptures outside symbolizes that visitors were to leave all their sexual desires and needs outside the temple while worship and dedicate their soul and mind only to god. Also, the sculptures have been created while keeping in mind that they are solely of human beings and not of gods, because gods are definitely beyond sexual temptations. The human beings that have been depicted in the sculptures are no ordinary ones. Rather, they are kings and queens of the contemporary times.
The sculptures of the Khajuraho temples have been created keeping in mind the sensuous character of woman. Women have been depicted with large and full breasts, and wide hips and men have been shown as the powerful one – who can lift many women at a time. Some of the sculptures portray fantasy and some of them portray the practical life.
There is a sculpture where a man is shown to penetrate into a horse and another man watches in shame and disgust. Most of the carvings portray sexual misuse, sexual ineptness and sexual pleasure.
In Khajuraho, Kama sutra is not only confined to temples. There are numerous shops that also sell souvenirs like playing cards portraying the various positions of Kama sutra, The Khajuraho temples keep on tempting sightseers enthusiastic to value art, and the different forms of the human body.
