The Kama Sutra is known to many as an ancient Sanskrit text that provides detailed and often helpful advice on the sensuous and sensual aspects of love and marriage.
Contrary to popular perception, it's actually a sacred text to many Hindus and is viewed as a venerable guide to virtuous and gracious living.
Other cultures, however, tend to focus exclusively on its explicit and unflinching look at the role of sex as a source of pleasure, while ignoring all the other wisdom it dispenses in relation to love and family life.
Perhaps this is why a Kazakh confectionery manufacturer chose to focus on the Kama Sutra's more overt content, when it decided to use eight illustrations from the venerable tome as molds for a new range of adult chocolate.
Unfortunately, the legal authorities in the predominantly Muslim country find the Obzhorka sweetmaker's candid chocs hard to swallow.
Public prosecutors in the town of Rudniy in the northern Qostanai region have announced that they are investigating Obzhorka for selling the graphic bars of dark and white chocolate, which have caused a public outcry.
The company has firmly denied any wrongdoing, however. Obzhorka spokeswoman Tatyana Kryachko told the Kazakhstan Today news agency that the chocolate had been intended as an exclusive adult gift.
According to Kryachko, the firm had even gone to the trouble of packing the candy in a fancy opaque wrapper so as not to offend any prudish sensibilities.
Sadly, these precautions came to naught when some enterprising vendors bought stocks of the chocolate, but removed the packaging before putting it on sale in their stores.
It's not known why the merchants removed the chocolate's wrapping, but some have speculated that they reckoned potential customers would be more likely to shell out 1,800 tenges (roughly $10) for the product if they could see what they were buying.
Unfortunately, it seems that some people saw too much and Obzhorka's high-end sweets have left a bitter taste in many people's mouths.
-- Coilin O'Connor, with contributions from Katarina Solikova
Contrary to popular perception, it's actually a sacred text to many Hindus and is viewed as a venerable guide to virtuous and gracious living.
Other cultures, however, tend to focus exclusively on its explicit and unflinching look at the role of sex as a source of pleasure, while ignoring all the other wisdom it dispenses in relation to love and family life.
Perhaps this is why a Kazakh confectionery manufacturer chose to focus on the Kama Sutra's more overt content, when it decided to use eight illustrations from the venerable tome as molds for a new range of adult chocolate.
Unfortunately, the legal authorities in the predominantly Muslim country find the Obzhorka sweetmaker's candid chocs hard to swallow.
Public prosecutors in the town of Rudniy in the northern Qostanai region have announced that they are investigating Obzhorka for selling the graphic bars of dark and white chocolate, which have caused a public outcry.
The company has firmly denied any wrongdoing, however. Obzhorka spokeswoman Tatyana Kryachko told the Kazakhstan Today news agency that the chocolate had been intended as an exclusive adult gift.
According to Kryachko, the firm had even gone to the trouble of packing the candy in a fancy opaque wrapper so as not to offend any prudish sensibilities.
Sadly, these precautions came to naught when some enterprising vendors bought stocks of the chocolate, but removed the packaging before putting it on sale in their stores.
It's not known why the merchants removed the chocolate's wrapping, but some have speculated that they reckoned potential customers would be more likely to shell out 1,800 tenges (roughly $10) for the product if they could see what they were buying.
Unfortunately, it seems that some people saw too much and Obzhorka's high-end sweets have left a bitter taste in many people's mouths.
-- Coilin O'Connor, with contributions from Katarina Solikova