The indian erotic art must be seen at the light of Hinduism. In the indian mithology Kama designates a God of Love. The same word also refers to te search of pleasure, one of the fundamental aspects that lead to the salvation of the soul. It is not surprising, for that matter, that sex has been invested with so much importance for indians for such a long time. That is what Kama-Sutra is all about, a classical book about eroticism and others forms of human pleasure.

The Kama-Sutra was written nearly 1500 years ago by a holy man, Vatsyayana. What is concluded, is that is a compilation and a classification of ancient texts about sex, a few which are 3000 years old. Its fame is not only due to its context but also to its unique character. It is known, however, that the texts and overall the erotic engravings were pretty comun in India (as well as in the whole eastern hemisphere), now only a few have survived until our days.

In the Occident Kama-Sutra was hardly known in 1883, in England, through a private edition with the title of The Hindoo Art of love. Another work of identical importance, much less known and rare, called Ananga-Ranga contains, besides texts, a considerable number of erotic engravings of good quality. The author is, a poet: Kalyana Mall. Published in England 10 years before as A Boat in the Ocean of Love remains until today as the most important ilustrated indian manual about sexuality and relationships in between sexes.