The best and most famous example of this can be seen at the Khajuraho complex in central India built around 9th to 12th century.Ī Marriage guide published in Madras Presidency, in 1920s.Ī number of movements were set up by prominent citizens, such as the Brahmo Samaj in Bengal and the Prarthana Samaj in Bombay Presidency, to work for the 'reform' of Indian private and public life. Examples of this include the depiction of Apsaras, roughly equivalent to nymphs or sirens in European and Arabic mythology, on some ancient temples. It is also during 10th century to 12th century that some of India's most famous ancient works of art were produced, often freely depicting romantic themes and situations. It is probably during this period that the text spread to ancient China, along with Buddhist scriptures, where Chinese versions were written. This is not the only example of such a work in ancient India, but is the most widely known in modern times. This philosophical work on kama shastra, or 'science of love', was intended as both an exploration of human desire, including infidelity, and a technical guide to pleasing a sexual partner within a marriage. This is supported by historical evidence, which shows that men in many parts of ancient India mostly dressed only the lower half of their bodies with clothes and upper part of body was covered by gold and precious stones, jewellery, while women used to wear traditional sarees made of silk and expensive clothes as a symbol of their wealth.Īs Indian civilisation further developed and the writing of the Upanishads around 500 BCE, it was somewhere between the 1st and 6th centuries that the Kama Sutra, originally known as Vatsyayana Kamasutram ('Vatsyayana's Aphorisms on Love'), was written. It is likely that as in most countries with tropical climates, Indians from some regions did not need to wear clothes, and other than for fashion, there was no practical need to cover the upper half of the body. Nudity in art was considered acceptable in southern India, as shown by the paintings at Ajanta and the sculptures of the time. It is common in many cultures for a ruling class to practice both polyandry and polygyny as a way of preserving dynastic succession. In practice, this seems to have only been practiced by rulers, with common people maintaining a monogamous marriage. It seems that polygamy was allowed during ancient times. These texts support the view that in ancient India, sex was considered a mutual duty between a married couple, where husband and wife pleasured each other equally, but where sex was considered a private affair, at least by followers of the aforementioned Indian religions. The epics of ancient India, the Ramayana and Mahabharata, which may have been first composed as early as 500 BCE, had a huge effect on the culture of Asia, influencing later Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan culture and South East Asian culture. These ancient texts, the Rig Veda among few others, reveal moral perspectives on sexuality, marriage and fertility prayers. During this period, the first evidence of attitudes towards sex comes from the ancient texts of Hinduism. The origins of the current Indian culture can be traced back to the Indus Valley civilisation, which was contemporaneous with the ancient Egyptian and Sumerian civilisations, around 2700 BCE. Khajuraho Hindu and Jain temple complex is famous for erotic arts. Moreover, there are distinct cultural differences seen through the course of history across India. As in all societies, there was a difference in sexual practices in India between common people and powerful rulers, with people in power often indulging in "self-gratification" lifestyles that were not representative of common moral attitudes. It may be argued that historically, India pioneered the use of sexual education through various art forms like sculptures, paintings, pieces of literature. India played a role in shaping understandings of sexuality, and it could be argued that one of the first pieces of literature that treated " Kama" as science came from the Indian subcontinent.
The seeming contradictions of Indian attitudes towards sex (more broadly – sexuality) can be best explained through the context of history.