spirituality, faith, hinduism, hindu, hindu temple, art history, art, queer, shiva, hindu american, hindus, american hindu, indian american, shiva rathri, religion, dharmic faiths, sex, kama sutra, sexuality, sensuality, empowerment, reclaiming narratives, bhakti, devotion, prayer, self love, culture, healing, intimacy, dating, relationships sangeetha kowsik spirituality, faith, hinduism, hindu, hindu temple, art history, art, queer, shiva, hindu american, hindus, american hindu, indian american, shiva rathri, religion, dharmic faiths, sex, kama sutra, sexuality, sensuality, empowerment, reclaiming narratives, bhakti, devotion, prayer, self love, culture, healing, intimacy, dating, relationships sangeetha kowsik

Lord Shiva - The Ultimate Valentine

Valentine’s Day is not a Western invention.

Long before modern culture reduced love to consumption and spectacle, Hindu philosophy understood desire, intimacy, sex, and sensuality as sacred forces, paths toward balance, knowledge, self love, relationships, and spiritual union.

In this essay, I unpack how scriptures like the Kāmasūtra and stories of Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvati, and Lord Kamadeva were never about indulgence or vulgarity, but about love as cosmic power, distorted by colonization, fetishization, and misunderstanding. How modern culture suffers from generational and cultural trauma which leads to conservative societies when our actual faith is accepting, open, and at its core love. From Bhakti (devotion) poetry to temple art, from queer divinity to embodied devotion, this is a reclaiming of what love was always meant to be.

This is education the world urgently needs, now more than ever. Let’s reclaim our histories and narratives!

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activism, activist, advocacy, appreciation, california, change, change in thinking, childhood, classical traditions, compassion, create the change, cross cultures, culture, cultures, desi american, distinctive, diversity and inclusion, diversity, educate, education, faith, friendship, global cultures, hindu, hindu temple, hinduism, history, hometown, inclusion, indian american, interfaith, islam, love, my story, oneness, religion, religions, south asia, spiritual activism, spirituality, tamil, tamil american, temple, travel, tamil nadu, unique, unity, world religions, unityindiversity, female empowerment, patriarchy, be the change, empowerment, empower sangeetha kowsik activism, activist, advocacy, appreciation, california, change, change in thinking, childhood, classical traditions, compassion, create the change, cross cultures, culture, cultures, desi american, distinctive, diversity and inclusion, diversity, educate, education, faith, friendship, global cultures, hindu, hindu temple, hinduism, history, hometown, inclusion, indian american, interfaith, islam, love, my story, oneness, religion, religions, south asia, spiritual activism, spirituality, tamil, tamil american, temple, travel, tamil nadu, unique, unity, world religions, unityindiversity, female empowerment, patriarchy, be the change, empowerment, empower sangeetha kowsik

Where Did Your Lady Balls Go?– South Asian Cultural Conditioning vs. Hindu Faith

Every day, I witness South Asian women weighed down by cultural expectations—pressured to conform, stay small, and stay silent.

Yet the Hindu faith we come from tells a different story.
Hinduism reveres amazing, fascinating, divine women.

Our goddesses are warriors, creators, leaders.

As a Hindu woman born and raised in the U.S., I have to ask:

Where did our courage go?

Where did our divine feminine strength—our lady balls—disappear to?

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