Why do we call them the 64 (sixty four) arts of Kamasutra? That’s a question that many people ask.

When people come across this phrase, they start depicting all sorts of images wondering what that “sixty four” could mean. The 64 arts of Kamasutra are explained in chapter two of the manual of sex & love by Vyatsayana.

The original text in Sanskrit reads as follows:

अालिंगनचुम्बननखच्छेधय्दशनच्छेधय्मंवेशनसीत्कृतपुरुषायि- तौपरिष्टाकानामष्टधा विकल्पभेदादष्टावष्टकाश्चतु:षष्टिरिति बाभ्रवीया: ॥4॥

I looked for a translation and attempted to simplify it like this:

Embracing, kissing, tearing with nails & teeth, sexual union, moaning, imitating the sexual role of the man, and oral sex are eight groups each comprising of eight variations. Thus, eight by eight being sixty four.

The 64 arts of Kamasutra got its name origin from this chapter about embracing, kissing, moaning, oral sex etc. Imagining sixty four variations of these makes the temperature rise. Isn’t it?