Everyone – well, almost – knows about the Temples of Khajuraho and the erotic sculptures carved all over them. People from all over the world come to gawk at them and photo-sharing sites like Flickr are simply littered with photographs of every graphic detail! But if you thought Khajuraho was a perverse aberration in the otherwise ‘simple living, high thinking’ Indian temple culture, think again!
Such erotic art was an integral part of many Hindu temples of the era, not limited by region, scale or dynasty! Opinions are divided but one plausible reason for the presence of such explicit carvings is to ward off evil. Another school of thought believes that the rulers who built these temples were practitioners of Tantra
Complete reference to Khajuraho, UNESCO World Heritage site | colour photos and info blurbs in a comic-style layout | includes 3D map and bibliography | 17 page PDF download
Price: $1.99
Below you will find examples of erotic art from seven more temples across Northern India. Have we left out any that you know of? Let us know!
[Except where stated, photographs are taken from Flickr and link back to the respective Flickr pages]
1. Temples at Bhoramdeo, Chattisgarh (7th-11th century)
Photo from Indian Journeys
2. Temples at Chamba, Himachal Pradesh (10th century)
Photo from Indian Journeys
3. Nanda Devi Temple, Almora, Uttaranchal (11th century?)
Photo from Indian Journeys
4. The Lingaraja Temple, Bhubaneshwar, Orissa (11th century)
5. The Sun Temple, Konark, Orissa (13th century)
6. The Jain Temple, Ranakpur, Rajasthan (14th-15th century)
7. The Monuments at Hampi, Karnataka (14th-16th century)
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Much closer shot wd hv been great. Excellent collection.
Great post. I appreciate you taking the time to write this. I bookmarked your blog. Thanks