Khajuraho's erotic sculptures are cosmic explosions: Indologist

There's a deeper significance to the erotic sculptures of Khajuraho in the Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh and people like to hear Indologist Udayan Indurkar talk about them.

Recently, he was invited by a group of sexologists to explain to them the sculptures of divine couples on the temples of Khajuraho.

"These are often described as obscene and I strongly object to that. Come with me to Khajuraho and I will explain why," challenges Indurkar.

It probably needs someone scholarly and well-informed like 56-year-old Indurkar to tell us how our ancestors have carved out our entire culture, knowledge and the essence of our civilisation in the stones of Khajuraho, Ellora (also called Verul in Marathi) among other ancient monuments.

Indurkar believes that the masterpieces of art in India have been lying under layers of ignorance for centuries.

As a member of an archaeological society called Blushing Indian Stones, he has conducted about 100 tours to the magnificent temples and caves in India with the sole intention of revealing the larger truths behind them.

According to him, they lead an observer to his inner self. Khajuraho represents the zenith of Indian temple architecture, he says, while blaming the British for labeling it as obscene in its character.

"Before the arrival of the British, Khajuraho was considered as a place where divine ecstasy exploded. The Westerners called it obscene because they did not get its true meaning," he says. This Indologist notes that ancient Indian literature describes sex as an art of experiencing the explosion of divine ecstasy.

"It is similar to cosmic explosion in the universe. During such explosions, atoms with energy come together, heat is created that leads to an explosion and energy is released," he says while trying to explain the concept in layman's language.

"In such explosions there is no external supply of energy, it comes from within. Similarly in the act of sex, energy is created within the person and is released. The sculptures are not aimed at showing the physical union but the cosmic truth."

He pointed out that all these sculptures are outside the temple and not within. This also holds a message. "No one knows how the atoms acquired energy. It was always there, that's what we call god. The cosmic explosion is explained through the sculptures outside the temple and then one is led into the temple to be one with the energy itself that you find in the sanctum sanctorum," he says.

Look at these sculptures and paintings as knowledge in frozen form. They were done in stone to 'freeze' the knowledge and pass it on to future generations. "If you minutely observe, you will find that all forms of sculptures are living performances of drama, music, mythology, religion, philosophy, science, literature and poetry as well," he notes. Indurkar asks tourists to look for scientific concepts in the sculptures. Concepts of evolution, the relationship between humans and god, human follies and weaknesses and various shades of virtues and vices are all explained therein.

"Ellora," he says, "is a masterpiece." Every carving is unique. For example, the sculpture of Parvati and Lord Shankar showing Parvati holding the hand of the lord while he has placed his left hand on her shoulder, during their wedding. "Observe her feet. She is rubbing her right toe with her left one which depicts embarrassment," he says.

Be it the temples of Khajuraho, Konark, Puri the splendid Gopuras from South India, Rani Ki Vav at Patan in Gujarat or the Kailas temple at the Ellora caves in Aurangabad, they are all expressions of art. Indurkar has presented more than 700 slide shows and now intends to create a comprehensive website on Indian temple art and architecture.