The Hinduism culture transformed sexuality in an art and had great influences on other cultures as well, due to their unique perspective on intimate relationships. In Hinduism, sexuality is a science and a spiritual practice as well and this way of understanding sex was illustrated in books and paintings along the history. The most famous Indian literature on sexuality is Kama Sutra and Kama Shatra. Kama Sutra means Aphorisms of love while Kama Shatra means The knowledge of pleasure.
The two books covering sexual activities and practices cover all the aspects of human sexuality and intercourse and they are known worldwide as reference writings for sexuality. Sexuality in Hinduism is diverse and is in agreement with modern sexual practices such as the LGBT community. They are open to experiences and new sexual levels and welcome the development and evolution in this matter. Kama Sutra describes and encourages group sex activities, orgies and different sexual practices, even from the oldest times. As sex is considered to be a way to exchange energy and entertain one’s Karma, it is important to be free and exciting for all the partners involved. In Hinduism, there are several statues that illustrated sexual scenes and they are taken as examples for couples when they want to explore new sexual horizons. Anal sex is also allowed and even encouraged. Women and men have equal sexual rights and when a couple has a sexual encounter both of them should find sexual pleasure and satisfaction during the experience. This makes Indian people open to new sexual practices such as bondage and BDSM fetishes, as long as they can relate to them and find sexual pleasure in performing such fantasies. When it comes to premarital sexual encounters, Hinduism doesn’t consider those inappropriate and doesn’t punish them. However, it is considered that when a virgin woman marries a virgin man and they have sexual intercourse after their wedding, the union is much stronger than other unions. This encourages marital sex more than premarital sex but it is up to every individual to choose their sexual life and how they want to live it. Indian people and in particular those who follow Hinduism are very sexually open to new experiences and they expect their women to keep up with this sexual evolution that takes place worldwide. Nothing is too much for them as long as there is pleasure and sexual satisfaction in the practice. Other civilizations learned to open up their limits and welcome other forms of sexuality into their acceptance field and even practice them in order to develop as sexual individuals. Hinduism was a great historical supporter of homosexuality, lesbianism and other forms of sexuality that took longer to be accepted in other corners of the world. However, what is even more exciting about Hinduism and its perspective on sex is that, since sexuality is considered to be a spiritual practice, it is believed to help us develop as human beings, in more than just the sexual aspect of our evolution. Sex used to be looked up in history as a gate to contact gods and higher entities and be in touch with Universal waves of energy. This encouraged Hindu people to explore more of their sexuality and don’t deny physical pleasures that could enrich their life and their souls.
In Hinduism, sex is not looked at as a hedonistic pleasure only, but as a deep connection with the other individual and as a way to increase one’s spiritual understanding and abilities. Even if the methods to reach such a high sexual satisfaction might follow the hedonistic algorithm, they are just means and not goals. A couple knows sexual freedom when they explored all the areas of their inner curiosity when it comes to this aspect of their life. Physical pleasure that can be reached through sexual encounters is just a benefit of the entire experience, a smaller one than the spiritual benefit that comes along with enriched sexual experience.