discuss about the sculptures of Konark Sun Temple
Answers
Hey mate!
Here is your answer!
Why there are erotic sculptures at the Sun Temple, Konark and the temples at Khajuraho? What purpose they served?
Being curious about this myself, I asked the guide the very same question when I was visiting the Sun temple at Konark.
He said:
"According to legends, the erotic sculptures were made after the Kalinga war. The brutal war that took place around 262-261 BC between Ashoka the Great and the King of Kalinga, killed more than 150,000 Kalinga warriors and about 100,000 of Ashoka's own warriors. This led to a scarcity of warriors in Kalinga. The population declined sharply.
The sculptures were made as a medium to promote sex. Since women visited the temple on a regular basis, the erotic figures were made so that their inclination towards sex could increase and hence could lead to child birth."
This was the explanation that I found most probable. Although the sun temple that now stands was not at the time of Kalinga war and it was constructed much later in 1290 AD. The archaeological surveys have found that there was always a temple from 11th century BC devoted to the Sun god on the same spot. According to historians a large replica of the old temple was constructed with black stones and the erotic images were copied as they were.
