Art, Religion & Erotica

Today I received the catalogue of the exhibition titled M.F Husain: Early Masterpieces 1950's-70s put together at the Asia House in London on May 10th by the diligent efforts of Amrita & Mallika only to be taken down prematurely due to the cowardly acts of vandalism instigated by ill informed and self serving interests of some Hindu Human Rights group protesting against ‘hurt Hindu sentiments’ by their unfounded and malevolent interpretation of some painting/s by the Muslim artist, of Hindu Gods and Goddesses in obscene sexual acts.

I wonder if there would so much as a murmur by this activist group has the same painting/s been made by a Hindu artist. After all lets not forget that Kama Sutra, the 2,000 year old bible of sex was completed by the Indian sage Vatsayan Mallagana of Benares that draws on the "Hindu religious philosophy that sexuality is basic to human life," or the fact that the temples of Khajuraho depict vivid erotic positions and is considered one of the finest group of temples in India. In fact such sculpture can be found on the shrines of Buddhist, Jain, Vaishnava, Shaiva, Shakti, and also other cults, which proves its trans-religious nature and the worship of genitalia has been prevalent for centuries and it is considered a part and parcel of Hindu worship.

Religion has already marred the political landscape and had left a permanent scar on the map of this great country but it will be a shame if we let allow personal prejudice dictated by our misguided belief system to enter the cultural area and corrupt the creative voices of ‘the few’ that attempt to unite ‘the many’ by speaking the unadulterated language of the arts.