This essay aims to analyse the ‘myth’ that my chosen photograph represents, its intent and its function. While relating to the ideas and concepts expressed in ‘Myth Today’ by Roland Barthes. I will be looking into the photographer’s reason for taking the photograph, what it may mean to him, and what I perceive as the ideal reaction from its audience. I will also try to understand how its meaning differs depending on your cultural influences. The photograph portrays part of the temple Lakshmi; which is part of a group of twenty-two temples known as the temples of Khajuraho. They are the second most visited tourist attraction in India after the Taj Mahal. 1
fig 1: Khajuraho - Tenth century - Photographed by Raymond Burnier
The photograph I have chosen (fig 1) was taken by Raymond Burnier around the late 1930s. By the end of the 1930s, Burnier had moved to Varanasi, where he began a fascinating process of visually documenting Indian society, prioritizing sculpture and temple architecture. Burnier travelled widely, consolidating his ever-expanding portfolio with detailed photographs of temple architecture and sculpture. Often, the focus was on the erotica that absorbed him. On viewing even a fraction of his work it gives the impression that although Burnier was born European, he had adopted India as his cultural home for a good part of his creative life. Raymond Burnier’s remarkable subject matter created an artistic inventory of the sculptures found on medieval temples in Khajuraho, and even to this day, his work remains an invaluable heritage for the aesthetic and semantic appreciation of the civilization of the subcontinent. It has laid a milestone with regards to anterior and posterior photograph collections dedicated to India. 2 It was Raymond Burnier who revealed the beauty and mystery of Khajuraho to the western world in the book ‘Deification of Eroticism’ by Alain Danielou. Burnier had a passion for Indian civilization. His photographic work brings to life the authentic treasures and secrets of India and bears witness to a love of beauty and depth of spiritual values. Burnier’s passion is witnessed by Danielou as he wrote about Burnier and his meticulousness and enthusiasm in the taking of his photographs,
“We had to build scaffoldings, wait under the burning sun for the perfect light, and adjust the mirrors to enhance it... Raymond worked with passion striving to reanimate the stone Gods that had been abandoned for centuries... Some of the statues would become so real to him that he would fall passionately in love with them.” 3
Furthermore, Burnier announced his awe at the prospect of being able to represent his discoveries stating in a letter that,
“these thousand-year-old statues have finally been released from their stone bodies and have found another form, more volatile, more subtle, more alive. They will find their way to you and they will travel the world”. 4
When Khajuraho first became known to the modern world, through the photographs of Raymond Burnier, the famous erotic sculptures seemed to represent simply the intense union of the human couple, a union easily transposed to the universal and the individual self. However, in my opinion, the beauty and expression of the sculpture is enhanced while the meaning is diminished. The unreal beauty is emphasised due to the lack of shadow which Burnier created by the use of sunlight and mirrors. It seems as though the significance is placed solely on the representation of the eroticism depicted on the sculpture. The temples of Khajuraho provide a rare insight into the ancient and historic architecture of medieval India. They ignite the imagination of visitors with innumerable questions and myths, such as their position in society, the real purpose behind their construction and why the graphic use of sexual and erotic postures present in a religious place? Built by the Chandela kings between 920 and 1050 Ad in an inspired burst of creativity, and yet were abandoned after the 14th century 5 and remained undiscovered for centuries thus preserving their secrets and leaving their meaning open to speculation. The once flourishing capital city of the Chandelas survived as a small, picturesque agricultural village, with no other evidence of its former glory except for the twenty-two remaining temples out of the original eighty-five. These were ‘discovered’ by T.S. Burt in 1838, a young officer in the British colonial army, who out of curiosity diverted from his official itinerary to follow the trail to this remarkable group of temples. The area was then hidden with dense jungle allowing it to survive all those years and was dotted with numerous Ponds, which would have made the site, look very different from today’s neatly manicured lawns and tourist bustle. The existing temples are recognized as unique examples of Hindu and Jain architecture, though they are better known to the public for the sensuous sculptures which adorn them. 6
The temples of Khajuraho are not a creation or vision of one man alone. They are a unique and intriguing phenomenon that no scholar knows exactly why they were built and what caused this outburst of such utterly passionate, sensual and highly erotic sculptures. Even Indians do not know exactly how to place the story of these temples in relation to their culture and how to present them to the world leaving their culture open to be tampered with by photographic representations with the sole intent to make a profit from this highly unique architectural site. Many ideas and myths have surrounded them in the pursuit to grasp the original meaning, but in the end, it is just educated speculation. The temples with their erotic sculptures look like there is a relationship between them and the famous erotic best-seller “the Kama Sutra” which was written around the third century AD. It is difficult to see a direct connection as this text was written around seven hundred years before the construction of the temple. Another valid explanation is that the erotic sculpture was meant to soothe the anger of the Gods of nature and to bring their disciples into a sensual and aesthetic trance, before an encounter with God fitting in with the tantric movement. 7
fig 2: Khajuraho - Tenth century
The image, (fig 2) consists of beautifully hand-carved figures engaging in various sexual acts, imbedded within the stone face of a religious Hindu temple. The artistic works of these sculptures speak volumes on how sex was not taboo but a Devine thing. The sexual carvings present on the temple are believed to be taking part in a combination of yoga, tantric sex, and Kama sutra. The stone figures pout and pose for the entire world like Playboy models posing for the camera, as the erotic figures, run through the whole Kama Sutra of positions and possibilities. For average viewers the unabashed sexuality is more fascinating than the reason behind the images. Most photographic representations of the Khajuraho temples have the
function to attract tourists and with that in mind they cling to the sexual visuals, using this
one feature as the selling point cheapening the architectural monument and culture of the
place in pursuit of capitalist gain. The promotional material and the information available
to the tourists, reduce Khajuraho to a single-issue destination: the candid contemplation
of the erotic. Khajuraho is an example of how increasingly places are subject to intense
pressures to market and redefine themselves in order to maximise opportunities to attract
international capital and tourists while putting a strain own the national culture of the
place. Even in Burnier’s photographic representation which aimed to highlight the out of
this world beauty and craftsmanship present in Hindu architecture to mystify and promote
admiration in the viewer. The representation still shows khajuraho as a single image, an
image of sexual sculpture with no inclination that a minimal ten per cent of the temple
complex uses sexual imagery. Consequently he too is using this imagery as the
guaranteed selling point. The temples of Khajuraho are viewed as one of the most fascinating and complex centres of medieval North India and has particularly become synonymous with erotic sculpture which does not comprise of even ten per cent of the overall temple structure.
8
The erotic sculptures dominate nearly all representations of the architectural form and style of the temples of Khajuraho as the most striking aspect and most open to interpretation and speculation. The photograph I have chosen creates a powerful visual manifestation of a very distinctive and very old religion. The image in my mind communicates absolutely the devotion of the sculptors to portray the metaphysical concepts of a complicated religion into visual forms, and I feel as though Burnier in his photographic rendition satisfies the eye and initial enchantment of the subject, but fails to inform of the spiritual meaning. I can’t help but be conscious of the fact that the image is relying on the erotic content to give it meaning, which I feel is completely justified as this was the western world’s first ever glimpse at a culture and religion so unfamiliar to its own. The photograph serves as a profound reminder of the Hindu idea that man is closest to the divine during the instant of sexual transcendence. The photographs function is to signify an idea, and ideology associated with Hinduism a sense of sensuality and alluring Mystification, representing a breathtaking awareness of the phase of the divine, a phase which is external to man. While the non-ritualised devotions to God represent awareness of the immanent and transcendent phase of the divine. There is thus the maximum of consistency between the ways in which the different modes of worship correspond to the different modes of regarding the divine principle.
I think the Photograph is attempting to prescribe a way of reading it in the sense that it
depicts something alien and unheard of in western culture in a way that is both beautiful
and mystical, that is a divine representation of the various deities that manifest the
Khajuraho temples. I deliberate that the intention was to compel observers to be open
minded and to be enlightened of the beauty of foreign art and architecture. This however
is achieved by drawing special attention to the erotic carvings (which only adorn a mere
ten per cent of the temple), thus cheapening the history as only one aspect is specified. On
looking at the image yes the beauty is apparent as the lack of shade accentuates
beautifully the curvaceous nature of the sculpture, which indicates that it is trying to
reach out to the rest of the world, but I am constantly being reminded that it is
highlighting the erotic nature of the sculpture in order to guarantee its notability. As I
know the photograph was published for use as an illustration for an informational book
on Hindu symbolization, therefore it does not need the historical attachments or meaning
it only needs to be a striking and thought provoking image and reference point for the
book and I feel it serves this function to great effect.
The images sole purpose is to attract the viewer to wonder why and look closer. The
photograph makes a spectacle or show of what the Indian culture is as it doesn't reference
this small aspect of Hindu culture and religion. The photograph directs all focus to this
sole characteristic as the photographers main intention is to shock and mystify potential
western people into reading the book and being aware of his work and contribution to
society. Thus its historical meaning is lost it becomes an empty shell open to
interpretation by the non-informed. Its ‘shocking’ characteristic becomes its identity,
“myth is a type of speech defined by its intention”9, because after all people are enticed
by the abnormal or different. This particular photograph has a variety of myths and
meaning attached to it all from foreign sources who are simply trying to find any reason
at all for something they don’t understand. As it is part of the human condition to
question what is different to what our own society and culture has conditioned us to think.
I believe that it is true that only people national to this culture can grasp properly what is
being represented as it is their history, their myth and their traditions being questioned. I
think all representations should belong to them weather they embody specific ethnic,
racial, religious or sexual attributes. People of the Western world are and have been
subject to our own myths and ideas it is our culture it is everything we are. “When a myth
reaches the entire community, the mythologist must become estranged if he wants to
liberate the myth”. 10
Thus the western touristic experience of India is typified by the
distance between the self and the observed, that of the visitor in the realm of ‘the other’
whereas for the local Indian they are one with the surrounding culture it is part of them
they have absolute identification with place, self, destiny and history, as they are part of
the symbolic geography of the nation.
‘Myth Today’, is a theoretical discussion of Barthes program for myth analysis. What
Barthes terms as ‘myth’ is in fact the manner in which a culture signifies and gives
meaning to the world around it, and if the culture is alien to the viewer of the cultural
representation the ‘myth’ is empty as it is devoid of its history and meaning and is subject to criticism. For Barthes every cultural product has meaning and its meaning is
conditioned to its systems of ideals and ideas which will always be subject to the
surrounding environment weather political, religious or traditional and for a culture such
as the western culture to look on eastern Hindu architecture with the ideologies and
beliefs associated with the way in which religious architecture is represented. Roland
Barthes explains, “that we cannot manage to achieve more than an unstable grasp reality
this doubtless gives measure of our present alienation: we constantly drift between the
object and its demystification powerless to render its wholeness.” 11
This idea is apparent in Burnier’s photographic portrayal of the Khajuraho temples as it is showcasing only one aspect of the entirety of the temple making its intention more straightforward allowing us the spectator, acknowledgement of our diminutive status in respect to the divine representation of the erotic performers.
Barthes goes on to say that, “for if we penetrate the object we liberate it but we destroy it: and if we acknowledge its full weight, we respect it but we restore to a state which is still mystified.” 12
The full weight of the photographs subject matter is not recognised this allows the observer to focus solely on the represented aspect an aspect which differs so much to our cultural norm allowing the photographers intent to become realised. Roland Barthes’ ‘Myth Today’ concentrated on the divide between the social classes in France at the time and with that the associated ideologies and attitudes. His concepts relating to our manufactured environment can be expanded to question how our cultural reality differs to the cultural and religious reality at the other side of the world in particular the imagery used to represent the divine.
The photograph taken by Raymond Burnier had the basic intention to promote a reaction
whether it is at the context or the beauty of the image, in relation to an alternative culture
that is not our own.
1 “Welcome to Khajuraho,” accessed December 21, 2013, http://www.pannanationalpark.com/khajuraho.html. 2 “Ways of Engaging - Compelling images by Daniélou and Burnier”, last modified Sunday , February 21 ,. 2010, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100221/jsp/opinion/story_12130282.jsp 3 Alain Danielou, The Hindu Temple: Deification of Eroticism, trans.Ken Hurry, (Vermont: Inner Traditions, 2001),174 4 Alain Danielou, The Hindu Temple: Deification of Eroticism, trans.Ken Hurry, (Vermont: Inner Traditions, 2001),174
5 “Christopher Tadgell , The East : Buddhists, Hindus and the sons of heaven " , (Abingdon : Routledge,
2008), 169
6 “Khajuraho”, accessed December 1, 2013, http://www.indianmoments.com/khajuraho.asp.
7 Heinrich Zimmer, Myths and symbols in Indian art and civilization, (Princeton, N.J, Princeton University
Press, 1972), 87-99
8 Desai Devangana, “The Religious Imagery of Khajuraho” Artibus Asiae 59, No. 1/2, (1999), 138-140
9 Roland Barthes, Mythologies: Myth Today, trans Annette Lavers, ( New York: Hill and Wang, 1984), 8
10 Roland Barthes, Mythologies: Myth Today, trans Annette Lavers, ( New York: Hill and Wang, 1984), 22
11 Roland Barthes, Mythologies: Myth Today, trans Annette Lavers, ( New York: Hill and Wang, 1984), 23
12 Roland Barthes, Mythologies: Myth Today, trans Annette Lavers, ( New York: Hill and Wang, 1984), 23
Bibliography
Barthes Roland, Myth Today, trans Annette Lavers. New York: Hill and Wang, 1984.
Cartwright Lisa and Sturken Marita, An introduction to visual culture. New York:
Oxford University Press. 2009
Danielou Alain, Deification of Eroticism, trans.Ken Hurry. Vermont: Inner Traditions,
2001.
Devangana Desai, “The Religious Imagery of Khajuraho”. Artibus Asiae 59, No. 1/2,
(1999), 138-140
“Tadgell Christopher , Buddhists, Hindus and the sons of heaven . Abingdon : Routledge,
2008.
“Ways of Engaging - Compelling images by Daniélou and Burnier”, last modified
Sunday , February 21 ,. 2010,
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100221/jsp/opinion/story_12130282.jsp
“Welcome to Khajuraho,” accessed December 21, 2013, http://www.pannanationalpark.com/khajuraho.html.
Zimmer Heinrich, Myths and symbols in Indian art and civilization. Princeton, N.J,
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