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Some experts of history suggested that the erotic temples were built to attract people to sex and thereby to rebuild the family-life and in the process renew their embrace of Hinduism. The more credible scholars of that line of thinking that interested me, suggested that the revival of ancient Hinduism was the originating impetus for the building of these temples that would have evoked the kind of beauty from within that we saw. They suggested the temples weren't for the purpose of the revival of Hinduism, but were reflection and expression of that unfolding revival.
Indira pointed out to me that according to the guidebook, Hinduism is a multifaceted belief that extols the efficacy of "four diverse paths to "Moksha" which were listed as "Dharma, Artha, Yoga, and Kama," of which the exotic sculptures expressed the fourth path. The guidebook suggested that since the erotic sculptures are limited to the outer walls of the temples, suggesting that they might have been seen as symbolic gates for reaching out to God. She said that she had never regarded sexual intimacy in that manner, but that it now makes perfect sense to her after what I presented to her earlier.
I suggested to Indira that this profound perception accords with Helen's Principle of the Universal Kiss and gives it an even more exalted meaning than Helen herself might have perceived for it.
One perception that the guidebook brought out was that "the Khajuraho temples in the larger sense are built upon the model of an ultimate seductress. The steps are like her feet, the Ardhmandapam are her knees, the Mandapam represents her curvaceous thighs, the sanctum-sanctorum her ovaries, and since it is very dark where the Linga is installed, it would represents her sexual organ."
"That's stretching it," commented Indira after she read this part of the guidebook to me. "But it's totally possible," she added.
It seemed to me that Hinduism combines the material and spiritual elements of our humanity so that there this nothing unusual about decorating a place of worship with sexual material so that the material gains spiritual significance.
"Isn't the entire sexual dimension of our humanity a construct that is so far beyond anything 'made' with men's hands that it borders on the miraculous, even the divine?" I said to Indira. "We don't create the sexual desires. We only respond to them. We have no control over the biological birth process either, except to initiate it. The whole process is something so perfect and complex that we barely scratch the surface in understanding it, and in understanding ourselves. It is more natural to worship in great temples the miracle that we are a part of instead of destroying the miracle with our bullets and atomic bombs."
Indira shuddered at the thought of bullets and bombs. "But you are right," she added. "An alert Hindu would therefore never criticize those mating sculptures in the temple that are clearly worshiping Shiva, which is reflected in the symbol of male and female organs. In Hinduism all of life is God's magic so that we are all inherent parts of a single all-embracing universal divinity. Our sacred scriptures argue that in order for one to be able to attain moksha, and to be able to dedicate oneself to dharma and adhyatma, one must first experience sexual fulfillment that is a part of the divinity of life. The person who created the sexual dimensions for the Kama Sutra is considered a sage of the divine, a prophet who suggests that the Gods themselves cannot escape the web of erotic love, the intimacy of the Kama. On the other hand we have mystic saints that many say have terribly sinned, who have abandoned what they stood for by the lure of a beautiful woman, the pornography of fantasy. We have deities who have been coerced and have slept with the wives have others, who have deceived even the Sun God, and have conceived before marriage. What I read in Hindu scriptures would put western societies to shame. But a lot of that is perversion. And with that perversion our perception of sex has become perverted too and become 'small' and our customs cheap, dishonest, and often destructive. If we concede that sex is an important and integral part of the divinity of life. I would say we are insane to throttle it to death with countless barriers, shame, taboos, impositions against love, etc., instead of allowing ourselves to experience it completely. It seems to me that only the perversions should be excluded."
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