Is the Kamasutra Obscene or Timeless? Understanding Its Relevance in Modern India

In a nation where temples of Khajuraho still stand in eloquent silence and yet sex education in schools is debated, India finds itself in a paradoxical embrace of tradition and taboo. At the heart of this intersection lies a misunderstood ancient text — the Kamasutra. Often mischaracterized and misused, it compels us to ask: Is the Kamasutra obscene or timeless? This question is not merely about sexuality, but about how we view intimacy, ethics, and cultural identity in a rapidly evolving Indian society. Far beyond its reputation as a manual of sexual positions, the Kamasutra is a profound treatise on human relationships, emotional depth, and aesthetic living — one that still whispers relevance in our conflicted modern world.

“guide on the art of living well, the nature of love, finding partners, maintaining sex life”

Section I: Debunking the Myth – What the Kamasutra Really Is

To comprehend the Kamasutra‘s role in today’s society, we must first strip it of the misinterpretations it has accrued over centuries. Authored by Vātsyāyana around the 3rd century CE, the Kamasutra is not a pornographic document. It is a sociological, ethical, and philosophical text that discusses the ‘Purusharthas’ — the four aims of human life: Dharma (duty), Artha (wealth), Kama (pleasure), and Moksha (liberation).

Contrary to popular belief, only about 20% of the Kamasutra deals with sexual acts. The rest concerns itself with choosing partners, understanding feminine agency, aesthetics, etiquette, social status, relationships, and the art of living. It views Kama not merely as lust, but as refined desire experienced through harmony, respect, and mindfulness.

“Women’s sexual pleasure is still taboo—but the Kamasutra tells a different story” (19 मार्च 2025)

Section II: Cultural Colonialism and the Birth of Shame

The obscenity tag is not native to Indian soil. It is a colonial inheritance. When the British arrived, they were astounded and scandalized by India’s open celebration of sensuality—from temple art to literature. Victorian morality, based on repression and guilt, labeled these traditions as vulgar.

The Kamasutra, along with sculptures at Khajuraho and Konark, was seen as evidence of a morally decadent society. What followed was the systematic erasure and sanitization of India’s erotic and aesthetic heritage. This Western gaze recast the Kamasutra as pornographic in the global market, stripping it of its scholarly and cultural context.

Decolonizing Desire: The Kamasutra and Its Mistranslations – Intersections

Section III: The Kamasutra as a Feminist Text

In a society increasingly debating gender roles, consent, and autonomy, the Kamasutra offers unexpectedly modern insights. Unlike many ancient texts, the Kamasutra grants significant agency to women. It discusses their desires, their right to reject, their preferences in a partner, and their role in sexual pleasure as equal participants.

The Kamasutra also underscores the importance of mutual satisfaction, communication, and emotional connection — making it a text far ahead of its time in advocating what today we call “consensual and communicative intimacy.”

The Kama Sutra Gets a Feminist Makeover

Section IV: Relevance in Modern India – More Than Just Positions

Sex Education: With rising cases of sexual crimes, the lack of sex education is a national crisis. The Kamasutra, when presented with cultural sensitivity, can aid in imparting knowledge about consent, pleasure, boundaries, and respect. It demystifies sex and elevates it from an act of lust to a ritual of connection.
Mental Health & Relationships: In a digital age of Tinder and broken marriages, the art of relating, bonding, and sustaining intimacy has weakened. The Kamasutra stresses emotional depth, aesthetic charm, courtship, and patience. It reminds us that eroticism is as much about the soul as it is about the body.
Cultural Reclamation: Embracing the Kamasutra is also reclaiming an indigenous worldview. In an era of identity politics and post-colonial assertions, acknowledging this text helps decolonize our minds and restore pride in our layered cultural history.
Gender Sensitivity: The Kamasutra validates multiple sexual orientations and non-heteronormative roles. By acknowledging same-sex attraction and fluid dynamics, it aligns with the contemporary LGBTQ+ discourse.

Section V: Is the Kamasutra Obscene? The Lens of Modern Morality

Obscenity is subjective. What is obscene to one culture may be sacred to another. In India, where temples once celebrated sexuality with divinity, the current discomfort speaks more about the lens than the object. The real obscenity lies in ignorance, in hiding bodies behind shame, and in promoting violence over pleasure.

The Kamasutra speaks of beauty, consent, refinement, and dialogue. Compare this with today’s proliferation of internet pornography which objectifies, commodifies, and distorts sexuality. Between the Kamasutra and modern porn, only one is truly obscene.

“neither pornographic nor obscene, but instead elevated as a scientific and serious study of sexual behavior.”

Section VI: The Emotional & Philosophical Depth of Kama

The word ‘Kama’ is often reduced to carnal desire, but in Indian philosophy, it is sacred. Kama is the yearning for beauty, art, love, music, connection, and meaning. It is the pulse of life that completes dharma and artha, and allows one to progress towards moksha.

When we read the Kamasutra in this light, it ceases to be about sex and begins to be about the art of living fully. It invites the reader to honour their desires with mindfulness, to approach relationships with grace, and to treat love not as possession, but as poetry.

Conclusion: Reclaiming the Forgotten Wisdom

The Kamasutra is not a dusty manuscript of outdated mores. It is a mirror to a time when India celebrated life in all its colours, including the hues of intimacy. It does not ask us to become libertines; it asks us to become aware.

In a country that often swings between prudery and perversion, the Kamasutra stands as a middle path — a way of respectful, responsible, and radiant engagement with desire. It is not the Kamasutra that is obscene. It is our collective amnesia.

Let us read it again. Not with lust, not with guilt, but with reverence and curiosity. The answers we seek for our fractured relationships, our repressed bodies, and our confused moralities might just lie in its ancient pages.