Erotica in Indian Literature 

by K.L.Kamat

Written: September 01, 1999
Page Last Updated: December 07, 2024

Romance of the gods and goddesses has the the subject of many erotic arts and literature in India. Poet Kalidasa graphically describes the erotic acts of Lord Shiva and Parvati in "Kumarasambhava". Similarly, poet Jayadeva deals with eroticism between Krishna and Radha in "Gita-Govinda".  In the southern region of Vindhya mountains love lore of Krishna is not in vogue, and we see that the southern poets have confined themselves to erotic acts of Shiva-Parvati. Battleswara in his works "Bhikshatana Charitra" has glorified their love acts. Lakanna Dandesha in his writings, "Shivatatva Chitamani" gives a vivid description of the couple's sexual acts. As they were not pleased with erotic acts of human beings, and hence they mated like fish, crocodiles, birds like peacock, owl, parrot, vulture, swan, heron; mammals like mouse, wolf, camel, monkey, cat, elephant, lion, and elephants. However, the poet has presumed that the readers are well versed with their mating acts and has refrained from giving a detailed description.