Celebrating love, lust and Homosexuality at Khajuraho

The historical group of temples found at the heritage site of Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, dating back to early medieval India, present powerful images to its viewers, celebrating erotica and same-sex love -- two things that are often suppressed in public discourses. The sculptures found in this grand sacred complex, openly validating homosexuality and eroticism, suggest that such ideas have been accepted as quite natural and pure in the subcontinent, way before the West made them popular.

The Khajuraho Group of temples are famous for their erotic sculptures; Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

The legacy of the Chandela dynasty and a proud display of India’s early medieval culture, the temples of Khajuraho boast of impressive architectural styles and unique sculptures that have a profound impact on the present scenario of the country. The Chandela rulers of the Bundelkhand region (9th-13th centuries) constructed more than 80 Hindu and Jain temples between the 10th and 11th centuries, of which only 22 have been preserved properly. Built in the Nagara architectural style, these temples

provide us with deep insights into the cultural and religious aspects prevalent at the time as well as the architectural progress of medieval times.

From a distance, the temples look like any other sacred space with their quiet and holy ambience. Yet, a closer look at the architectural elements might shock and even embarrass a majority of Indian people. Inscribed poetically into the walls of the Khajuraho temples are numerous sculptures, each seemingly carrying its own story or significance. Among these many sculptures, we find some outright and provocative sculptures of humans engaging openly in passionate sexual activities. However, here's the more baffling part -one of these sculptures undoubtedly seems to be telling a highly erotic story between two men!

The presence of so many erotic sculptures at these temples may have either been a way of promoting fertility cults around the temple premises or a tribute to the ancient Indian treatise on sensuality- the Kamasutra. However, it is the homosexual sculpture that stands out in this regard. Although not many in number, the very existence of this sculpture counters the popular narrative that same-sex love is unnatural and did not exist in India before the Western influence.

Homosexuality has been a controversial topic in the Indian context for quite a long time. The argument that the idea of same-sex love or marriage is unnatural or sinful has come up many times. The British introduced the despicable Section 377 in 1861, criminalizing all sexual acts against the so-called "order

of nature". It was only in 2018, about seven decades after independence, that the lewd Act was repealed. But even that hasn't necessarily led to much progress in India.

Sexuality, eroticism, and particularly homosexuality continue to be regarded as subjects that must be avoided or hidden from the public eye by several people. Coming out as gay or lesbian has been received mostly with homophobic reactions from family or friends. Gay marriage awaits to be legalized as well.

It is ironic that a country like India, which used to be way ahead of its time for publicly accepting and celebrating notions of same-sex love to the point of projecting them on the walls of a holy precinct is struggling to progress with these ideas at present times. The medieval sculptors and the patrons of the Khajuraho temples are probably rolling in their graves for the downfall of the Indian mentality.

In this now distinct and eye-catching sculpture, we find two men standing face to face and displaying their genitals to each other.

There's another sculpture with a man standing on his head and pleasuring three women, which further hints at bisexuality because the women seem to pleasure one another as well! In some of the other

erotic sculptures of couples in Khajuraho, the viewer sees the frontal side of only one person, so it is difficult to ascertain whether they are homosexual or heterosexual.

The Khajuraho group of Temples give important glimpses into the cultural and social life during the reign of the Chandelas; Image Source: Times of India

A sculpture at Khajuraho, portraying three women pleasuring a man and one another. Image Source: Daily O

A sculpture at Khajuraho portrays a homosexual (gay) couple in an erotic posture; Image Source: Wikipedia