Sexuality

Published on 15th November, 2020, in Mid-day. About 400 years ago, a Shakta text was composed in Sanskrit language, probably in Bengal. It was called Radha Tantra. It was a response to the rising tide of the Chaitanya Vaishnava movement, where Krishna is the supreme divine being and Radha is the subordinate. From the 12th century onwards, we have seen the rise of Radha as a character, dominating the bevy of gopikas who dance around Krishna, thanks to the composition of Geet Govind by Jaydev, around the Puri temple. This song brings a tantrik flavour to the bhakti of Krishna. The inclusion of the erotic, ..

Published in June 2018, for Conde Nast Traveller’s “Desire and Discovery". Temple art and architecture is philosophy in stone. A manifestation of thought, temples like the hidden verses of epics, have unseen images on their walls. What you understand depends on what you want to see. One of the most remarkable things about classical Indian languages is its acknowledgement of three genders: male, female and other. There are many words for the other: kliba, napunsaka, kinnar (in Sanskrit), pedi (in Tamil) and pandaka (in Pali). This other is translated either as ‘neuter’ (neither male nor female) or as ‘queer’ (both male and female), depending on ..

Published on 11th June, 2017, in Mid-Day. At the heart of the hysteria over the peacock's tears is Hinduism's great discomfort with sex. Ever since the British made fun of Hindus for being sexual, sensual, and feminine, Hindus especially have been out to prove them wrong. And, this has led to bizarre, even grotesque, manipulations of Hindu lore, the most recent being the public declaration that peacocks reproduce not via sex but via tears. It mirrors the famous story of how a drop of Hanuman's sweat, rendered potent by his celibacy, had the power to make a fish pregnant. The story of the peacock's chastity ..