A woman has her legs slung over the shoulders of a man, bent backwards like a stone comma. One of her feet is on the mans headdress, while he rests his chin on her yoni. Im hunkered down on my knees in a back room of the British Museum, staring at a carved depiction of oral sex. Not your typical Tuesday.

My guide tells me that the statue is 11th century, possibly from the Elephanta cave temples near Mumbai, and came to the museum in 1865. It venerates the vulva, or the source of creation, she explains, even though oral sex was considered transgressive at the time. On the other side of the sculpture, a woman stands between two men, one impressive lingamheld between her breasts.

The carving is called erotic maithuna, a Sanskrit term often translated as sexual union. It is just one of the items that will be on display in the museums upcoming tantra exhibition. Im getting a sneak preview of Tantra: enlightenment to revolution, which opens on 23 April. It promises to be the first exhibition to look at the whole history of tantra, from ancient inception to impact on global modern culture.

The rest is here:
Sting, Shakti and sex: The exhibition changing our understanding of tantra - The Independent