Bangalore International Centre had arranged an illustrated talk on “Erotic Art of Karnataka” by Mrs. Vatsala Iyengar, well-known Temple Historian, on Friday, 22nd May 2015 at 6.30 PM. Mrs. Geetha Rao chaired and moderated the event.
In her presentation she indicated that India is synonymous with erotic literature and erotic sculpture and while the Vedas, the epics, the Puranas and other texts contain vivid and explicit tales of eroticism, sculptures have found a niche in the religious art of India, the tradition dating back to the ancient times. While Konark, Khajuraho and Kamasutra are known all over the world for eroticism, Karnataka too has its own contribution to the art, as the medieval temples of the State including the lesser known temples have considerable portrayal of sexual representations.
In her talk, Vatsala Iyengar narrated stories from the epics and legends on eroticism. She explained the same with a power point presentation showing images of various sculptures from different temples of Karnataka which were sculptured from 6th to 12th century.
The Q & A session after the talk was informative and interesting.