Maithuna Sculpture at the Chitragupta Temple, Khajuraho

This sandstone high-relief sculpture features a male and female figure engaged in a sexual embrace, with their bodies intertwined and their hips pressed together. To their right stands a surasundari, a celestial maiden, who is depicted looking down while holding an object near her torso. The figures are carved with soft, rounded musculature, traditional Indian ornamentation, and elaborate coiffures characteristic of the Chandela dynasty temple architecture.

The mithuna sculptures at Khajuraho represent the confluence of tantric philosophy and aesthetic theory in medieval Indian temple architecture, where sexual union is symbolically linked to the concept of moksha or divine bliss. These carvings are part of the broader Shaiva and Vaishnava ritual programs that integrate human desire into the sacred space of the temple.