Kamasutra of India

About the history of the Kamasutra.

The Kamasutra is one of India’s well known books in the West. Other books are the Bhagavad Gita, Ashtavakra Gita, Viveka Chudamani, the Upanisahds, the Vedas etc. Th Kamasutra of India was written by Vatsyayana, who’s real name actually was Mallanga. The book describes the art of love making, based on the Shiva-Shakti philosophy.

Vatsyayana wrote the Kamasutra of India between the first and the fifth century AD. The precise year is not known, but scholar K.M.Pannikkar states that elements in the content clearly refer to this period. Some say Vatsyayana not only was influenced by Hinduism, but also by the Buddhist Mahayana tradition.

The first publication of the Kamasutra of India was the English translation by Richard Burton in 1883. Burton, who had lived and worked in India for many years knew and spoke Hindustani, Marathi, Gurajati, Persian and Sanskrit. Burton translated the book from Sanskrit, the ancient language. The publication was very controversial in Victorian Britain.

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