#ganika

Hello! Let me share today a few lines from A Twist of Fate, the second book in my historical trilogy.

In this, Deva and Charu had got married through the ancient custom of arranged marriage when the groom and the bride meet only at the time of marriage. Although conscious of the obstacles between them, Deva can’t help giving in to the attraction between them.

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‘Do you really wish me to be so…

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Vatsayana lists out 64 arts to be cultivated to make a person more attractive. Incidentally his recommendations are gender neutral. I have listed the 64 arts below and followed it up with a quote from the Kama Sutra.

The 64 Arts Of The Kama Sutra are:

1. Singing 2. Playing a musical instrument 3. Dancing 4. A combination of singing, using musical instruments and dancing 5. Writing and drawing 6. The Art of Tattooing 7. Adorning an idol with flowers 8. The art of spreading flowers on a bed or on the ground 9. Coloring fabrics, nail and body with colors from plants 10. Fixing colored glass tiles on floor 11. The art of making a bed 12. Producing music by striking glasses of water 13. The art of storing water in reservoirs 14. The art of picture making and decorating 15. Making rosaries, necklaces, garlands 16. Tying turbans 17. Stage playing 18. The art of making ear ornaments 19. The art of making perfumes 20. Proper care of jewels, decorations and ornaments 21. Magic (sorcery) 22. Manual skills 23. Cooking (culinary skills) 24. Making combination drinks and flavored drinks, i.e.– lemonades, sherbet etc. 25. Tailoring and sewing 26. Making handicrafts, e.g. parrots, flowers etc. from thread 27. Skilsl to solve riddles, puzzles and covert speeches 28. The skill of Antakshari (a singing game were one must start with the letter with which other person’s song ended) 29. The skill of imitating natural sounds 30. Reading, chanting and intoning 31. Mastering tongue twisters 32. Skills at martial arts (the skills to use sword, stick, bow and arrow) 33. Skill to reach logical conclusions based on given facts 34. Carpentry 35. Architecture 36. Knowledge about gold, silver and gems 37. Chemistry (knowledge of properties of materials) 38. The art of coloring jewels or beads 39. Knowledge of mines 40. Gardening 41. The art of cock fighting (getting cocks, quail or rams to fight and make the fowl/animal victorious) 42. Teaching parrots or starlings to talk 43. Applying perfumes on body and hair 44. Understanding of code language 45. Spoonerism (purposefully interchanging position of letters of words while speaking) 46. Knowledge of languages 47. Knowledge of making flower chariots 48. Knowledge of making mystical graphics, spells and charms and ways to avoid spells 49. Mental exercises 50. Composing poems 51. Knowledge of dictionaries and vocabulary 52. The art of impersonation 53. Impersonation of materials, i.e.– make common things appear fine rare substances (make cotton appear to be silk) 54. Knowledge of gambling 55. Using mantras (enchantments) to take away others’ possession 56. Skills in sports and games 57. The art of social conduct, paying respect and sending compliments 58. Knowledge of war, arms and army deployment 59. Knowledge of gymnastics 60. The skills of knowing a person’s real character from his conduct 61. The skill of reading and composing verses 62. The skills of enjoying arithmetic puzzles 63. Making artificial flowers 64. Making images with clay

“A public woman, endowed with a good disposition, beauty and other winning qualities, and also versed in the above arts, obtains the name of a Ganika, or public woman of high quality, and receives a seat of honour in an assemblage of men. She is, moreover, always respected by the king, and praised by learned men, and her favour being sought for by all, she becomes an object of universal regard. The daughter of a king too as well as the daughter of a minister, being learned in the above arts, can make their husbands favorable to them, even though these may have thousands of other wives besides them. If a wife becomes separated from her husband and falls into distress, she can support herself easily, even in a foreign country, by means of her knowledge of these arts. Even the bare knowledge of them gives attractiveness to a woman, though the practice of them may be only possible or otherwise according to the circumstances of each case. A man who is versed in these arts, who is loquacious and acquainted with the arts of gallantry, gains very soon the hearts of women, even though he is only acquainted with them for a short time.”

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