Perhaps as a guide, perhaps as an inspiration, perhaps even as a shared experience of normal sexuality

Have you seen the Khajuraho temples? I would tend to agree with you, but once donkeys come into the picture, I bail 😆

these people carved into their temples because it didn't make them uncomfortable.

Having visited a few of the temples in Hampi, I believe that their design is meant to arouse the senses. It feels almost paradisical interacting with the sensuous architecture around. This sensual arousal is intricately linked to the Hindu metaphysical systems, including the yoga of sexuality, which expresses itself in the visible architectural and artifactual forms scattered throughout the complex. I can only imagine what it would have been like to participate in a ritual at the climax of their history. Mind blowing!

Just like porn and free body culture are fundamentally different things.

In the west, we seem to have divided sexuality into separate spheres (entertainment, research, health, etc), but in the Indian way of thinking back then, sexuality was an intricate part of one's existence, both physical and spiritual. Something to be celebrated and revered not tucked away in the bedroom or research lab. They overtly made the point in ways that today we find shocking and even inappropriate, especially when mixed with religion. I find the issue endlessly fascinating, from a purely academic interest, naturally. 😅