This library is built in the open.
If you spot an error, have a suggestion, or just want to say hello — we’d love to hear from you.
Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileThe stone relief features a central male figure positioned upside down with his head at the bottom, supporting a woman who is seated atop him in a straddling position. Two additional female figures stand on either side, their arms interlocked with the central couple; the figure on the right holds an object against her head, while the figure on the left has her arm around the central man's neck. All figures are rendered in the characteristic high-relief style of the Chandela dynasty, adorned with traditional jewelry such as necklaces, armbands, and waistbands, while their lower bodies are largely nude.
This sculpture is part of the architectural program of the Khajuraho group of monuments, which reflects tantric influences and the pursuit of kama (pleasure) as one of the four goals of human life in Hindu philosophy, as codified in texts like the Kamasutra.
Vatsyayana
The iconography relates to the instructional erotic postures described in the Kamasutra.
Object
Engraving
sculpture
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
originally posted to Flickr as "Kamasutra 106"
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
1003 × 1024 px
0b43c88291c5ec3d778a03e27e37e3dd9e60309a
March 24, 2011
April 17, 2026
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3.1-flash-lite-preview on April 18, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.