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CHRISTINE MACHADO | JANUARY 04, 2016, 12:00 AM IST

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India is widely considered to be a conservative society where matters of love and sex are considerely private matters and not to be discussed in the open. Yet, interestingly, many Indian temples are known for their erotic imagery which seems quite contradictory to the popular held views on this sort imagery today. In an attempt to understand the reason behind the use of this imagery in sacred places and give different instances on it, Dr Vidhya Dehejia who is currently a Barbara Stoler Miller Professor of Indian and South Asian Art at Columbia University will be enlightening audience's in a talk to be held on January 4 at Sunaparanta, Altinho.

The 2012 Padma Bhushan award winner for her exceptional contribution to Indian literature, Dehejia, who has written books like 'The Body Adorn', 'Delight in Design' and 'India through the Lens', was buoyed to explore the field of Indian art history because of a “ curiosity about the past” and the need to understand the reasons behind the wonderful imagery all around.

For this particular talk, she will be focusing on three different themes of love in an effort to help understand this imagery. “ I am going to start with the fact that the gods Shiva and Parvati are depicted as a loving couple. Since earliest times there has been this emphasis on the beauty, physicality and love of this god and goddess. So when you are portraying your god in that kind of circumstance you begin to understand why there is so much love imagery,” says Dehejia. To illustrate her point she plans to use inscriptions and ancient poetry which talk about love to show that there was a very different attitude towards life, love and sex at that time. In the second instance, Dehejia has chosen to focus on the Karla caves near Lonavla which are Buddhist caves. “As you approach and walk into the veranda of these caves, you see eight over life size couples or mithunas just standing there, very sensuous figures,” she explains. “ Now Karla is a monastic settlement away from town with only monks and nuns living in the area. So for them to put six such couples on the front wall and two on the sidewall shows the importance of the theme of fertility. Fertility means growth, means abundance, means prosperity and from that it is a short jump to becoming an auspicious figure. So for them these figures are meant to bring fortune.” Interestingly, two of the mithunas also have an inscription which says that a monk donated these which shows that this was a widely accepted theme. “There is also this old Indian idea of a four fold path- dharma (ethical living), artha( pursuit of profession to bring wealth) , karma (love and sex) and moksha (ultimate salvation) that really play into this because you should not bypass one of them, you have to do all of them. So when you have a temple it is appropriate to put all these four goals on them because you must follow all these,” explains Dehejia, adding that the widely popular Khajuraho caves in Madhya Pradesh, will also find a place in her talk.

Yet another explanation for the use of love imagery is based on the advatia Buddhism philosophy from the 3 cy BC. “ It’s a very difficult philosophy which says that we are all one. There is one universal consciousness and an individual comes out from this, lives a life on Earth and then goes back to this conscioness which is the ultimate salvation,” elaborates Dehejia. “The sages who wrote the Upanishads used sexual terminology to try and explain the bliss of joining back to the universal soul. So what is being suggested is that certain kind of imagery should be read in a metaphorical way as referring to that. Some imagery can be explained this way but not all. You have to see the position, its placement and how it is portrayed.”

Dehejia adds that this imagery, literary texts and performing arts earlier all went together and had to be understood in that manner as it was all entwined. However, now each section has been segregated differently.

Dehejia also notes that there is a different between the imagery in Hindu temples and Buddhist temples. “The most explicit depiction of sex is not at the moment in the Buddhist context from what has survived. There are other depictions in Nepal and Tibet where the deities unite. But in India we do not have the deities uniting, we only have the loving deity. The words though are explicit,” she says.

Speaking about the attitude towards love and sex, Dehejia says that earlier it was something that was out in the open and a part of life but history has played an important part in changing this attitude. “ We were under a long rule by the British where the Victoriam attitude towards sex was keeping it private. Before that we were ruled by Muslim rulers who had their own ideas,” she says. “ Although today the open atittude continues in the manuscripts, in public culture and monuments there has been a complete shift.”

Dehejia adds that this imagery, literary texts and performing arts earlier all went together and had to be understood in that manner as it was all entwined. However, now each section has been segregated differently.

Dehejia also notes that there is a different between the imagery in Hindu temples and Buddhist temples. “The most explicit depiction of sex is not at the moment in the Buddhist context from what has survived. There are other depictions in Nepal and Tibet where the deities unite. But in India we do not have the deities uniting, we only have the loving deity. The words though are explicit,” she says.

Speaking about the attitude towards love and sex, Dehejia says that earlier it was something that was out in the open and a part of life but history has played an important part in changing this attitude. “ We were under a long rule by the British where the Victoriam attitude towards sex was keeping it private. Before that we were ruled by Muslim rulers who had their own ideas,” she says. “ Although today the open atittude continues in the manuscripts, in public culture and monuments there has been a complete shift.”

just standing there, very sensuous figures,” she explains. “ Now Karla is a monastic settlement away from town with only monks and nuns living in the area. So for them to put six such couples on the front wall and two on the sidewall shows the importance of the theme of fertility. Fertility means growth, means abundance, means prosperity and from that it is a short jump to becoming an auspicious figure. So for them these figures are meant to bring fortune.” Interestingly, two of the mithunas also have an inscription which says that a monk donated these which shows that this was a widely accepted theme.

just standing there, very sensuous figures,” she explains. “ Now Karla is a monastic settlement away from town with only monks and nuns living in the area. So for them to put six such couples on the front wall and two on the sidewall shows the importance of the theme of fertility. Fertility means growth, means abundance, means prosperity and from that it is a short jump to becoming an auspicious figure.

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