Erotic Couple, Konark Sun Temple

This stone relief sculpture shows a nude male and female figure engaged in a sexual embrace within a recessed wall niche of the Konark Sun Temple. The female figure clings to the male with her arms around his shoulders and her legs locked around his waist, while the male supports her weight. Both figures are carved in high relief with traditional Indian jewelry and ornamentation, standing upon a circular, decorated pedestal amidst highly intricate, carved stone masonry.

The Konark Sun Temple is a 13th-century Hindu temple dedicated to the sun god Surya; its erotic sculptures, known as maithuna, are often interpreted within the context of Tantric practices, the celebration of life-force, or as apotropaic symbols intended to protect the sacred space from external forces.