A View of Nudity from South Asia

From Sri Lanka we read this admittedly muddle-minded editorial:

NUDITY: From the time Eve ate and tempted Adam to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge and found that they were naked and covered themselves with figs to hide their frame which was created in the likeness of God, the introduction of clothes made man engrossed about nudity and the genitals has overwhelmed him.

The nudity has been the subject of controversy so much so that worshippers of Satan and the cult of Anti Christ has proclaimed that nudity is the concept of God and Anti nudity and knowledge is the concept of Satan.

When the Church commissioned, Michael Angelo to carve out from a single stone of Marble the statue of David exposing his genitals, it created so much controversy that some Popes ordered that the sexual organs be covered by fig leaves.

This appeased the puritans and moralists who considered the naked exhibition of genitals was not keeping with the teaching of Christ. Throughout the ages nudity has created controversy.
When the British conquered India and found the most wonderful piece of architectural monument in Khajuraho the imperialist who believed that they were the ultimate authority in culture or civilisation thought that the sculptures of statues and the carvings were the product of a barbaric tribe.

The officers of the imperialist army were shocked beyond belief when they saw the most fascinating erotic sculptures.

Being brought up in the Victorian prudery where even a lady exhibiting her ankle was considered vulgar decided to destroy these temples.

Thus some of the most wonderful architectural masterpieces ever created by man was partly destroyed by the imperialists who at that time was brought up in a tradition that nudity, sex and erotic art were considered barbaric.

Mulk Raj Ananda said that the mental and the cultural imperialism of the British was a greatest evil perpetrated on the Indian people than their conquest of the land.

The ancient liberal approach to sex which was believed to be divinely inspired by the Hindus were muted by the British when the Victorian concepts of morality were introduced.

In India one of the largest religions is known as Jainism. The followers of sage Mahavira Jains believe that nakedness is an essential element of the road to liberation. Mahavira himself, whose life shows Jains the way to liberation, set an example of total nudity amongst its followers.
But Jainism also decreed that as the women cannot be permitted to be in the nude, they will have to be re-born men so that they can shed their clothes and find liberation.

Even today In India especially in the State of Maharashtra the Jaina monks walk in the nude and accept alms from men and women. No one raised an eyebrow or throws stones at the holy pious monks for being in the nude.

A few days ago controversy about nudity raged again in London. The hero of our times Master Harry Potter, the child wizard, who made its creator Mrs. J.K.Rawlings the richest writer in history and further the movie a box office hit.

Mrs J.K. Rawlings has been writing from the age of six the stories which became the best sellers, shows that mental age of the readers of Harry Potter has not developed beyond the age in which the author started writing which is six.

Millions of people revels in fantasy in dreams the fact that the book was originally published in England and translated in to sixty three languages shows that mental age of the reader whether he lives in sophisticated surroundings in London or in the remote hamlets of Indonesia the mental remains the same.

Douglas Amarasekara termed this phenomenon as the rise of the lower classes. If one has to survive in the 21st century as a writer or an artist one has to cater to the lower classes and the vulgar tastes that these masses cherish.

The writings of Rawlings were just the piece of cake that was gobbled up by masses fascinated by wizards, witches and sorcerers. When the people were getting bored of Dinosaurs the wizards were recreated.

The movies of Harry Potter were equally popular as the book. Young actor Daniel Radcliff gave life to Harry Potter and conjured all the tricks of the trade and made Harry Potter come to life.
Daniel Radcliff as Harry Potter was able to instil in the spectators the mythical concepts that haunted the English public from time immemorial. They were molly coddled by the nightmares they had as children.

Advances made in the Science field from the composition of the Atom to the exploration of the Universe or theory of relativity has made a profound impact on mankind.

But these innovations and discoveries have made the fertile and imaginative mind to create a creature of Science like the cloning of dinosaurs or mythical dragons and other things that haunted men from the beginning.

Once the spectators and readers got bored of science fiction stuff, the creatures from fairy tales the wizards and witches were given a new lease of life.

Our infantile mind with limited imagination is fertile ground to sow the seed of ignorance. The entertainment industry has used these traits to their advantage.

With the advent of sophisticated computer animations Master Daniel Radcliff as Harry Potter became icon among teenagers. The delusions spread through the systems that not only the children but also the parents began to love the wonder of Harry Potter and began to re-live their adolescence.

Once a famed Indian director was asked by me why do Indian films feast on the same formula of songs dances and fights, the Hero ultimately triumphing over evil. He answered my question in the most calm and assured manner. What will a child grab, a plate of rice or chocolates?”

Why do the Indian directors feel that Sri Lankan adults are children? The box-office collection show that the spectators whether Indian or Sri Lanka are not different. The success of Harry Potter clearly shows that the Indian film director was right and I was wrong.

Master Radcliff might have undergone the same that went through the mind of Sean Connery when he refused to be type caste as James Bond. He turned out be one of the great actors of modern era.

The time comes that one is bored by the kind of cheap success one enjoys. David Radcliff at the age of 17 decided to shed his own clothes, and the image of Harry Potter, and perform in the nude before audience spell-bound by that action alone.

They came to see in thousands not to behold the spectacle of a young boy, blinding six horses which was liken to that of an act of a Serial Killer, but to see Master Radcliff shedding his fig leaves and exposing his genitals.

Many may have come to the hall buying expensive tickets to be titillated by the exposure. Voyeurists may have had the pleasure of seeing one of the most popular and sought after actors shedding his clothes. The peeping toms are the product of Victorian prudery and sexual oppression that went with it.

Only a few may have understood the deep penetrating portrayal of cruelty of child exposed to the major dilemmas of the 20th century; its industrialisation, commercial culture and its acute sexual repression, and its attitude towards human relationship measured in money and success.
Peter Sahffer’s Equus was brilliant play and moving theatre which made inroads into child psychology and the ability of psychiatrist to understand the reason of the Child blinding six horses.

But the crowds who may have been oblivious to the deep penetrative analysis of the mind of a child who is exposed to cruelty around him, would have been shocked by their hero shedding the clothes and exposing his nudity to the audience.

So whether we live in exclusive plush suburbs of London or in Wanathamulla, the degree of obsession to nudity is the same.

Sexual suppression has driven men around the world and has caused mental sicknesses and the fantasies they develop around sexuality is the same as their child hood fantasies of wizards witches and dragons.

When Master Radcliff decided to shed all his clothes and perform in front of a discerning audience, it was proved that he cannot be oppressed by stringent puritanical Victorian beliefs about nudity and morality.

He showed to the world, that nudity is an important aspect of Human Anatomy and no one should be ashamed of the human body, which has been, according the majority of the population who believes in Christianity and the Bible, created by God, in image ad the likeness of him. Only worshippers of Satan, would condemn Nudity.