Tag Archives: tantra

I know it’s a bit fruity, but…

Khajuraho…Khajuraho is a world heritage UNESCO site 

Tantrika temple in Sri Lanka

TANTRIK practice spread to Sri Lanka, although little of it remains today.  Here is the temple of Nalanda Gedige, about 20 clicks from Kandy, off the beaten track. It appears to have been embellished with saucy sculptures, although when I visited it in April last year, only one small motif remained.  There’s some more information about this shrine, here.  There is a Gorakhnath mandir in the precincts of the great Kandy complex… 

Nalanda Gedige, Sri Lanka

Truly, awareness without attributes is Kameshvara

Monty tells of strange Indian tales

I’M REALLY enjoying reading Monty’s  (Paul Munford) Indian Outlook.

I worked with Monty years back at Castle Despair, or VNU UK as it then described herself.  Monty is on a sabbatical in India for a year, and he’s up to issue number 34 right now.

The latest newsletter says that the Indian government has asked ISPs to ban a web site called http://www.Savitabhabi.com. This is an adult cartoon site, but it’s very mild by our standards, says Monty.

People who want to defend web content have set up a site called www.savesavita.com. The paradox is that India in the 21st century has rather a puritanical streak. This is despite the fact that India is the land of tantra and the Kama Sutra, and the Sanskrit language and a great deal of its literature is sensuous and even erotic.

Places like Khajuraho and Hampi (Vijayanagar) are full of carvings and statues that express the joy of sexuality and love. But now,  the ra-ra girls in 20/20 cricket matches are shown only for seconds, in case they excite viewers too much.

This picture is from Khajuraho. Some of the carvings have been defaced.

khajuraho

You can subscribe to Monty’s Indian Outlook by sending an email here. I’ve tried to contribute to understanding Indian culture on this web site.