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Oldest Indian erotica in art

CONTENTS

" In art, immorality cannot exist.


Art is always sacred"

August Rodin

Indian Miniatures
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.

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.

Kama in the mythology of India, the god of love. During the Vedic age, he personified cosmic
desire, or the creative impulse, and is called the first-born of the primeval chaos that makes all
later creation possible. In later periods he is depicted as a handsome youth, attended by heavenly
nymphs, who shoots love-producing flower-arrows.His bow is of sugarcane, his bowstring a row
of bees. Once directed by the other gods to arouse Siva's (Shiva's) passion for Parvati, he
disturbed the great god's meditation on a mountaintop. Enraged, Siva burned him to ashes with
the fireof his third eye. Thus he became Anaṅga (Sanskrit: “the Bodiless”). But some accounts
say Siva soon relented and restored him to life after the entreaties of his wife, Rati.

The term kama (Sanskrit kama) also refers to one of the proper pursuits of man in his role as a
householder, that of pleasure and love. A classic textbook on erotics and other forms of human
pleasure, the Kama-sutra, is attributed to thesage Vatsyayana.

Encyclopedia Britannica

Most important sex manual in mediaeval India


In the words of one jacket blurb: the "Koka Shastra" (Trans. A. Comfort,
Allen & Unwin, 1964) and its associated texts are to mediaeval literature
what the "Kama Sutra" was to ancient. When Kokkoka turned in the twelfth
century to the themes of love and sex the move was audacious: for a
thousand years the "Kama Sutra" representing the summed wisdom of
earlier times, had been supreme. What more was there to say? Mediaeval
India was different to the India of Vatsyayana. "A new approach was needed
yet the early pages suggest that we are reading a new abridgement of the
classic work, a sibling rather than a sequel." And Kokkoka frequently
expresses his debt to the earlier master. The abiding value of the Sanskrit
texts, as of many other ancient works, is the positive attitude to human
sexuality.

First Indian sex manual translated into English


The "Ananga-Ranga", published three quarters of the way through the
nineteenth century, was to have appeared as "The Kama Sutra", or "The
Hindoo Art of love". Alas, the printer, after reading the galleys, lost his nerve
and refused to go on with the job. A consequence is that the proof copies in
existence are extremely rare. Arbuthnot and Richard Burton translated the
"Ananga-Ranga" - which was not written by a holy man (as was the "Kama
Sutra") but by a poet named Kalyana Mall. It has been published into many
languages under a variety of titles "The Pleasures of Women", "The Form of
the Bodiless One" "The Writ of Desire", etc.

Oldest Indian sex manual


The oldest and best known Indian sex manual is the "Kama
Sutra of Vatsyayana", written about 1500 years ago. It has
been pointed out that this comprehensive volume
summarised many earlier writings on sexual topics dating
back as much as three thousand years. The first English
edition of the "Kama Sutra" was privately printed in 1883;
the Indian "Ananga-Ranga" (or "The Stage of Love", also
known as "Kamaled-hiplava" or "A Boat in the Ocean of
Love") was translated into English ten years before the
"Kama Sutra". This latter, more important work, is the first
full manual from India devoted exclusively to the subject
of human sexuality and in particular to the relationships
between the sexes.

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