Ananga Ranga
The Yoni – Female Genitalia
‘…it being of four kinds: that which is soft inside as the filaments of the lotus flower, this is the best; that whose surface is studded with tender flesh-knots and similar rises; that which abounds in rolls wrinkles and corrugations; that which is rough as the cow’s tongue.’
Ananga Ranga
In Hindu culture, the vagina is represented by a downward triangle or trikona, being the symbol of Shakti, the divine female energy. But while the yoni was revered as the source of creation, it was also feared. The ancients believed that, like a mouth, it swallowed up and consumed the male seed. One of the many colourful names for the vagina from the Perfumed Garden – El âddad or The Biter – shows how the vagina was a symbol of man’s unconscious fear that a woman might eat or castrate her partner during intercourse!
The female genitals are made up of several parts. The vagina is the inner part and has an average length of four inches, the G-spot located inside the first inch. The vulva is the external part of the genitals incorporating the mons pubis (or pubic mound), the labia, and the clitoris – one of the most sensitive points on a woman’s body. The visible part, the glans, is located under the folds of skin where the labia meet at the top. This is connected to a whole network of sensitive erectile tissues extending to the pubic bone and the perineum, which swell with blood and become firm during arousal.
The Lingam – Male Genitalia
‘His member should be of ample dimensions and length. Such a man ought to be broad in the chest and strong in the buttock; he should know how to regulate his ejaculation, and be quick to erect; his member should reach to the end of the canal of the female, and completely fill the same and all its parts. Such a one will be well beloved by women.’ Perfumed Garden
The penis is a universal symbol of fertility, and a potent image at the centre of many god-dominated religions. As the consort of Durga or Kali, Shiva is the erect phallus – a symbol of that which is invisible yet omnipresent – and his virile lingam is held in reverence in Hindu temples all over India, generally mounted on a circular or quadrangular receptacle called the Avudaiyar. In the Kama Sutra, men were put into three categories – the hare man, the bull man, and the horse man – according to the size of their penis, so that they would correspond with the right woman according to the depth of her vagina. This even fit made for ‘equal union’.
The head of the penis, the glans, is connected to the shaft by the frenulum, a thin and very sensitive stretch of skin. The shaft of the penis contains three tubes, which engorge with blood during arousal, causing the penis to swell quickly, whilst muscles at the base of the shaft contract simultaneously to stem the blood flow and help maintain erection. (The Kama Sutra talks of certain Apadravyas, or objects which are put on or around the penis in order to supplement its length or thickness.) Sperm is produced in the testicles, which are enclosed in the scrotum, which hangs below the penis. Learning to control ejaculation is essential for the enjoyment and prolonging of intercourse. As the Kama Sutra states, ‘if a male be long-timed the female loves him the more, but if he be shorttimed, she is dissatisfied’.
The Breasts
‘The Yakshasatva-stri has large and fleshy breasts with a skin fair as the white champa flower; she is fond of flesh and liquor; devoid of shame and decency; passionate and irascible, and at all hours greedy for congress.’
Ananga Ranga
Every culture in the world appreciates breasts. As well as being visually pleasing, they are also powerful symbols of motherhood, nourishment and protection – the place we instinctively turn to as soon as we emerge from the womb.
For many women, the breasts are a highly sensitive erogenous zone. When aroused, the nipples harden (although it is quite common for only one nipple to be erect) and the areola becomes darker in tone. During lovemaking they provide a powerful visual and tactile stimulus for the man, but he should be aware that the breasts can be sensitive and tender and should be handled gently and not squeezed too hard.
The bosom is a warm and comforting place to nuzzle into or it can become a playground for fun and fantasy. Why not sprinkle rose petals across your lover’s chest while she is lying on her back, or drip cream, yoghurt or some other delicacy over her nipples and then slowly lick it off. In the bath, cover her breasts with soapy bubbles or drip cold water on her nipples.
The Kama Sutra mentions the tradition of pressing or scratching the body with fingernails as a sign of intense passion. One of the main areas for doing this was the breast. A curved line made on the breast was called ‘the tiger’s nail’; indentation made with five nails was known as ‘the peacock’s foot’; and when they were made close to one another near the nipple, it was known as ‘the jump of a hare’.
Breasts are composed mainly of fatty tissue. They have no muscles but it is possible to strengthen the ligaments that hold them and build up the pectoral muscles, which will aid posture. Try this easy exercise: with arms crossed, place your hands on your upper arms and push against them in a rhythmic pulsing action. Alternatively, you can open up your chest by raising your outstretched arms over your head.
‘When a woman in a lonely place bends down, as if to pick up something and pierces, as it were, a man sitting or standing with her breasts, and the man in return takes hold of them, it is called a “piercing embrace”.’
Kama Sutra
The Head
‘“Kamavatansakeshagrahana” or “holding the crest hair of love” is when, during the act of copulation, the husband holds with both hands his wife’s hair above her ears, whilst she does the same thing to him, and both exchange frequent kisses upon the mouth.’
Ananga Ranga
Being closest to heaven, the head is deemed a sacred part of our bodies with the hair symbolizing strength and energy. Lockets of hair have long been exchanged between lovers as mementoes. And in some religions a woman’s hair is kept covered, only to be revealed in private and to her husband. Hindus believed that simply by loosening her serpentine locks, the goddess Kali could unleash thunderstorms and tempests, which could only be quelled if she bound up her hair again. Similarly, Shiva’s unkempt tresses were representative of wild abandon and universal sexual energy.
According to the Ananga Ranga, one of the signs that a woman is amorous, is that ‘she scratches her head that notice may be drawn to it and rubs and repeatedly smooths her hair so that it may look well.’ At that time most women possessed long flowing hair, which ideally was to be kept ‘soft, close, thick, black and wavy’.
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