The Human Body in Indian Art is Celebrated as Both Sensuous and Sacred.

THE GUARDIAN
By William Dalrymple

Radha Krishna on the banks of the Yamuna, a folio from the Gita

UNITED KINGDOM---How could it be appropriate to cover the exterior walls of a religious building with graphically copulating couples? The heady mix of sensuality and religion that defines so much of Indian art often confuses and even alarms western viewers when they first encounter it. The sacred and the sensuous rub shoulders in an intimate manner that seems strange to sensibilities that have been trained to see art through the lenses of a tradition rooted in Christian attitudes to sexuality and religion: why, we wonder, would a monastery built for celibate Buddhist monks be decorated with images of beautiful, half-naked palace women? [link]

The Centre for Fine Arts: "The Body in Indian Art," (Ends January 5, 2014); Europalia International Arts Festival, BOZAR, Rue Ravenstein 23 B-1000, Brussels; europalia.eu