I was in Konark last weekend and as anyone can guess ,I visited the Sun Temple. It is another architectural marvel of India. The temple is built for the Sun God, in the form of a chariot drawn by seven horses, symbolism VIBGYOR.
The architect of this temple has devoted much of his time in sculpturing human emotions in STONE! There are statues depicting various ‘Mudras’ of Bharath Natyam and statues of sexual positions.
The response elicited in our minds when we hear the word Kama Sutra is that it is a treatise on ‘Athletics of Sex’! But definitely it is much beyond this. We will only be trivialising Kama Sutra if we equate it to just ‘sexual positions’! Written by Vatsyayana, anytime between 100 to 400 AD, it talks elaborately about the importance of sex in human lives. What was his intention in writing this or what he wanted to convey by his work is definitely beyond my comprehension! But from the perspective of art and photography, I view this as an outstanding piece of work. I would go a step further and appreciate the sculptor who actually gave shape to what Vatsyayana is saying in his work.
May be it is a Victorian mentality to condemn any depiction of sex. But Hinduism recognizes the role of sexual desires in human lives. That’s why many ancient temples in India have expressed this explicitly in the temple architecture. There is a difference between Nudity, expression of beauty and pornography. What appear in Hindu temples are expressions of genuine beauty and not pornography.
There are many statues in Konark Sun Temple. The mudras of Bharath Natyam or of any other form of dance, which was prevalent in this part of India during that time, are a collection of architectural beauty.
I must say that the Kings, who were ruling ancient India, had a very different outlook towards life. Their perspective of life is totally different from what it is for the present rulers!
A closer look at Hinduism will reveal that sex was never a taboo during the ancient period. Some believe these sculptures were meant for sex education and there is nothing unnatural for temples to have them. In fact, the sex sculptures are all seen outside the Hindu temple along with other sculptures depicting materialistic way of life
In Konark too these sculptures are seen along with other statues emphasizing the fact that in those days sex was never treated as taboo and it is a natural process of life like other things!
Sun temple at Konark, is one of the must -see destinations of the world!
Gopalan,Like you said ,there are some changes here.but my comment is missing. Remember posting one :(. Excellent photography.
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