Bestiality

Representation of bestiality scenes are of 3 types.

The Hindu temple strive towards the heavens. The above surge of the building has always to be marked. The artist has to take care that no sculptural design discord with the perpendicularity of the temple. The poses and attitudes in which the sexual act is represented depend, to a certain limit, on the space give out to erotic motifs in the sculptural scheme of the temple.
Khajuraho temples, erotic motifs, being on the jangha, vary in height from two and a half to five feet. The composition-space allotted to erotic motifs resolve the poses in which they are represented (to a certain extent). The artists had to be careful in the selection of poses in representing sex. The standing pose was the most suitable as it would not conflict with the rising surge of the temple. But, the artists have mere freedom in the smaller space available on the plinth or the base of the temple.
The standing attitude is thus, widely prevalent in representing erotic motifs on the temple.



Erotic sculptures are affected not by any thoughtful symbolism of highly mature thought systems, but by those religious beliefs and practices which reflect the primal association between sex and religion.
Hinduism include higher religious morals, spiritualism, mysticism and ascetism on the one hand and magical beliefs, superstitions and rituals which establish the popular religion on the other.


The post-Kandariya temples at Khajuraho, 1050-1150 A.D. shows a distinct treatment of erotic motifs. This change match with the political decline of the Chandellas from about 1050 A.D.
Social forces rather then the optical laws of the inner development of art, account for the decline in the frequency and the intensity of erotic sculptural depictions.
It is generally believed that erotic motifs are placed only on the exterior walls and never on the Garbhagriha, because they represent worldly life which has to be renounced. And it is believed that figures in sexual act are involved in yogic asanas and exemplify the non-dual state of Ananda, the supreme bliss.

The deities who are enshrined in Medieval temples- Shiva, Devi, Ganesha, Vishnu, Surya and the subsidiary divinities, reflect their association with cults of fertility.
Magic and religion are not a dichotomy but represent a continuum and are distinguished only ideal typically. The magical power of sex is manifest both in actual practices and symbolic representation in religious rituals.
Tantric beliefs gave impetus to the worship of gods with their consorts which is also reflected in Medieval iconography.


Shakti-Ganesha, Khajuraho.

 

Uma-Maheshvara