"Twisting, broad-hipped and high breasted nymphs display their generously contoured and bejewelled bodies on exquisitely worked exterior wall panels. These fleshy apsaras run riot across the surface of the stone, putting on make-up, washing their hair, playing games, dancing, and endlessly knotting and unknotting their girdles....Beside the heavenly nymphs are serried ranks of griffins, guardian deities and, most notoriously, extravagantly interlocked maithunas, or lovemaking couples." Wrote James McConnachie in his history of the Kamasutra, while describing the carvings presented on the walls Khajuraho temples of Cental India, although McConnachie agreed quite evidently that only the zesty 10% of the Khajuraho sculpture are "the apogee of erotic art". And thus there are other 90% of the statues in the outer walls of the temples about which we need to have a look and also can search for an interpretation of all these rather than a description.
The sun-worship at Konarak had nothing to do with such orgiastic practices. The profusion of erotic sculptures need not also imply that there was moral laxity of the devadasis employed in the temples, who were primarily concerned with service to the deity.
Of greater credibility is the explanation offered by A.K. Coomaraswamy who mentioned that the Indian sex-symbolism is ‘sacramental’ in its likeness to the union of the individual soul with the universal spirit. The representation of sexual union in sculptures according to Stella Kramrisch is regarded as a “symbol of Moksha”, because the ecstasy in sexual love was compared to religious ecstasy derived in merging of the human soul with the ultimate reality. Coomaraswamy further described the erotic sculptures as symbolic of the illusory world of pleasure in contrast to the solemn character of the inner side of the sanctuary. The outside of the temple represents various activities that belong to the samsara; beyond that and within the temple is the image of God. The worshipper must overcome the world of pleasure to find this god. K.C. Panigrahi, a historian of Orissa, believes that the obscene figures were in all probability meant to test the self-restraint of a visitor before he was entitled to reap the merits of his visit to the god. Another explanation offered is that the erotic figures are inspired by Tantric rituals. The total frankness, lack of guilt, and the expression of mutual enjoyment and zest expressed through these sculptures have been noted by Nihar Ranjan Ray and Abanindra Nath Tagore, Prof. K.S. Behera, a noted historian agrees with these explanations and accepts this as most credible in his latest book “Konarak, the Black Pagoda” published by the Publications Division of the Government of India.
A comparison between the erotic sculptures of the Khajuraho temples and the Konarak temple can be noted. At Khajuraho, the sculptures being independent of the flat base of the temple body, seem as though they have been applied on the temple surface, without any basic relationship with the temple walls. But at Konarak, as in the case of the other temples of Orissa, the figure sculptures look as if they have blossomed forth from the temple wall. This organic relationship between the sculpture and the walls of the temple, contribute, to a very considerable degree, to the vitality and liveliness of the Orissan sculptures.
Khajuraho has the largest group of medieval Hindu and Jain temples, famous for their erotic sculpture. The Khajuraho group of monuments has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is considered to be one of the "seven wonders" of India. The name Khajuraho, ancient "Kharjuravahaka", is derived from the Sanskrit word kharjur meaning date palm.
A UNESCO world heritage site in central India, Khajuraho is a famous tourist and archaeological site known for its sculptured temples dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu, and Jain patriarchs. When in the middle age the foreign invaders of different religion started attacking North India. Some Bargujar Rajputs moved eastward to central India; they ruled over the Northeastern region of Rajasthan, called Dhundhar, and were referred to as Dhundhel/Dhundhela in ancient times, for the region they governed. Later on they called themselves Bundelas and Chandelas; those who were in the ruling class having gotra Kashyap were definitely all Bargujars; they were vassals of Gurjara - Pratihara empire of North India, which lasted from 500 C.E. to 1300 C.E. and at its peak the major monuments were built. The Bargujars also built the Kalinjar fort and Neelkanth Mahadev temple, similar to one at Sariska National Park, and Baroli, being Shiva worshippers. The city was the cultural capital of Chandela Rajputs, a Hindu dynasty that ruled this part of India from the 10-12th centuries. The political capital of Chandelas was Kalinjar. The Khajuraho temples were built over a span of 200 years, from 950 to 1150. The Chandela capital was moved to Mahoba after this time, but Khajuraho continued to flourish for some time. Khajuraho has no forts because the Chandel Kings never lived in their cultural capital.
Khajuraho, what is now Madhya Pradesh state, extended over 21 sq. km and contained about 85 temples built by multiple rulers from about 950 to 1050. In the late 11th century the Chandela, in a period of chaos and decline, moved to hill forts elsewhere. Khajuraho continued its religious importance until the 14th century (Ibn Batuta was impressed by it) but was afterwards largely forgotten; its remoteness probably saved it from the desecration that Muslim conquerors generally inflicted on Hindu monuments. In 1838 a British army captain, TS Burt, employed by the Asiatic Society in Calcutta, came upon information that led him to the rediscovery of the complex of temples in the jungle in Khajuraho.
Its temples are the pinnacle of architectural and sculptural excellence, representing one of the finest groupings of Indian art. Yet very little is known about their builders, the medieval Chandela rulers, and even less about the reasons why the temples were used to portray (among other things) some of the most graphic erotic sculptures the world has ever known.
Of the 85 original temples-most constructed of hard river sandstone-about 20 are still reasonably well preserved. Both internally and externally the temples are richly carved with excellent sculptures that are frequently sensual and, at times, sexually explicit.
Today, the temples serve as fine examples of Indian architectural styles that have gained popularity due to their explicit depiction of sexual life during medieval times. Locals living in the Khajuraho village always knew about and kept up the temples as best as they could. They were pointed out to an Englishman in late 19th century but the jungles had taken a toll on all the monuments
The Khajuraho temples do not contain sexual or erotic art inside the temple or near the deities; however, it is true that some external carvings bear erotic art. Also, some of the temples that have two layers of walls have small erotic carvings on the outside of the inner wall. There are many interpretations of the erotic carvings. They portray that, for seeing the deity, one must leave his or her sexual desires outside the temple. They also show that divinity, such as the deities of the temples, is pure like the atman, which is not affected by sexual desires and other characteristics of the physical body. It has been suggested that these suggest tantric sexual practices. Meanwhile, the external curvature and carvings of the temples depict humans, human bodies, and the changes that occur in human bodies, as well as facts of life. Some 10% of the carvings contain sexual themes; those reportedly do not show deities, they show sexual activities between people. The rest depict the everyday life of the common Indian of the time when the carvings were made, and of various activities of other beings. For example, those depictions show women putting on makeup, musicians, potters, farmers, and other folks. Those mundane scenes are all at some distance from the temple deities. A common misconception is that, since the old structures with carvings in Khajuraho are temples, the carvings depict sex between deities.
While the essence of Tantric concepts can be traced to many parts of the world including the Native American tribe of Cherokee, who practiced Quodoushka, as well as in Polynesia, and elsewhere, one history of ritual sex can be traced back to the Harrapan tribe of the Indus Valley (4000 BCE --2000 BCE). They were agrarians who worshiped the power of the feminine, which they associated with fertility and birth. Their deity was the goddess, idolized in the form of the yoni (vulva). The Harrapan's culture was altered by the war-like nomadic Aryans who replaced the existing female deities with their male gods--often represented by the phallic lingam symbol (penis). Female deities were then relegated more to being consorts to the male gods.
Sexual intercourse was seen as a way to combine the male and female energies, which were seen as originating from the Cosmos. The manifestation of this duality are the deities Shiva (male) and Shakti (female).
Hinduism accepted an open attitude towards sex as an art and spiritual practice. The most famous pieces of Indian literature on sex is the Kamasutra. This collection of explicit sexual writings, both spiritual and practical, covers most aspects of human courtship and sexual intercourse. It was put together in this form by the sage Vatsyayana from a 150 chapter manuscript that had itself been distilled from 300 chapters that had in turn come from a compilation of some 100,000 chapters of text. The Kamasutra is thought to have been written in its final form sometime between the third and fifth century CE .
Over time, in the history of the evolution of Hinduism, almost every sexual technique conceivable was practiced and venerated in one sect or another. Fellatio, cunnilingus, prostitution, masturbation (with an impressive array of aids), anal sex, bestiality and even necrophilia were discussed, tolerated or encouraged. Against this historic backdrop, it is not surprising that Tantrism, a sect that utilized sex as a means to spiritual involvement, would flourish.
The ancient Tantric movement peaked between 700--1200 CE. Tantrism is so called because the practitioners adopted the teachings in the Tantra scriptures thought to have been written around 300 CE. Tantrism is considered by some as a part of the group of Hindu sect, the Shaktis, who venerate the feminine. This is in contrast to the Lingayatis who primarily worship male deities.
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