Looking for porn in Sringeri

[skthewimp]

Now that this half-blasphemous title is out of the way, let me get straight to the point. Actually I think a bit of beating around the bush is warranted. When I read Tyler Cowen's Discover Your Inner Economist, I wasn't sure if i would be quoting part of this book on my blog. However, considering that I almost directly applied one of the ideas

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[arvindn]

when i had the chance to take my current advisor and a couple of other american colleagues on a tour of mahabalipuram and other temple places (quite odd, i know :-), i made sure to point out all the erotica to them. it is my belief that that trend in architecture is a remnant from the pre-hindu traditions in india, which were largely animist or otherwise naturist. while hinduism is puritanical in most respects, it somehow failed to impose its morality on the architectural tradition. i find it amusing how this makes a lot of hindus uncomfortable. try pointing out to some people around you that the shiva linga is phallic symbol and watch the reactions :)

[skthewimp]

i don't think all this "moral" shyte was part of hinduism till very recently. one look at amar chitra katha illustrations for ancient stories will support this view.

the popular view is that hinduism started adopting these "moral" practices mainly to counter the Islamic invasion of India in the early 1000s and later in the Victorian era when convent schools mushroomed all over the place.

[shrikanthk]

hinduism - puritanical?
Our myth is replete with sex and violence.
Also, the original aryan gods were symbols of nature. So, the hindu tradition is just as 'naturist' as the so-called pre-hindu dravidian tradition.
The puritanical streak in hinduism is largely an outcome of islamic rule and its influence on hindu way of life

[arvindn]

Pre-Hindu!

All hail Rev. Caldwell and co.!

ho-hum!

I read in my textbooks(I think, written by venerable Sangh Parivar Historian -- R. C. Majumdar) that temple architecture was supposed to spread awareness about Sex and human physiology, there are treatises written on sculpting which are blended with religion and philosophy... these books are like bible for the sculptor caste...