"Curious," Yellow exclaims upon learning in Brillat-Savarin's classic meditation on transcendental gastronomy that there are six senses: the usual five, and "physical desire which draws the two sexes together." Yes, this philosophy of food preparation defines lust as a sense that must be addressed by great cooks.

Taking this kind of cue, sexual scenes from Vatsyayana's centuries-old sacred book, the Kama Sutra, now decorate India's location on Dorrance Street in Providence. Made in India on burnished brown wooden panels taken from discarded ox-carts, the intricately carved bas-relief scenes of elegant, blissful heterosexual lovers recall the Hindu teaching that sex as an art is what separate us from brute creatures.

Gallery lit against walls of jeweled red and orange, each 14-foot-by-14-inch frieze captures a royal couple illustrating the various sexual sutras in flagrante delicto. The squares depict exotic postures still illegal in various states and familiar positions (hopefully) enjoyed by everyone, as well as plenty of hugs and kisses, sexuality's soulful spices.

Chetan Kothary, India's Downcity manager, explains that the panels are not "an attempt to sensationalize the location . . . but to offer more insight into Indian culture," and rethink the role of the ethnic restaurant experience. He notes that he would be stoned and demonstrations would erupt if the same panels were displayed at a restaurant in India. While the Kama Sutra is read in schools as religious history, Indians still regard public representations of sexuality as off-limits.

When India's owner, Amar Singh, first suggested the panels, Kothary was ambivalent because the US, he says, "is becoming a more conservative society."

Ajay Vinoben, one of India's manager-partners, admits the Downcity location was the only one three considered for the permanent exhibit because "the arts-centered area promises a more sophisticated audience."

What with the Republicans' global anti-sex education policies, Kothary's caution is understandable. Indeed, if India was a gallery looking for public funding, the National Endowment for the Arts might find these panels unfit for public funding and display.

Vinoben tells a legend about an ancient
Indian king who built a most famous Sun temple, visualizing the entire Kama Sutra, to remind his people of the sacredness of earthly pleasure and seduce them into making the here-and-now a paradise for all. In our society, that king's promotion of Kama Sutra-sexed sense makes all the more sense.

Issue Date: March 1 - 7, 2002