The museum, named "Antaranga", or "Inner Self", begins with abstract drawings of entwined couples and verses from the "Kamasutra", India's ancient treatise on the art of love.

The exhibits are a mix of the academic and the explicit.

Apart from clay sculptures of sex godesses, the museum also uses fibre-glass models of human genitalia as well as Adam and Eve statues locked in a passionate embrace.

"What are we ashamed about?" asked Dr Shah. "Young people are usually confused. We want to clear their minds."

A 16-year-old student, Rahul Jadhav, said he felt awkward looking at the naked figures but the museum was a "storehouse of information".

Apart from providing sex education, the museum also seeks to build awareness about AIDS through real-life stories, explanations on how to use condoms and illustrations of the HIV virus depicted like a vulture eating into the human body.

India has nearly four million people suffering from HIV/AIDS, second only to South Africa, and health experts warn the numbers could spiral if urgent steps are not taken.

While critics say the museum is a bit too explicit, visitors say it is a good way of educating people in a country where people tend to shy away from any discussion of sex.

A male visitor looks at a statue on display at 'Antarang' (internal body), a museum on sex education at Kamathipura, one of the largest red light districts in Bombay in this November 1, 2002 file photo. It tells you all you ever wanted to know about sex but were afraid to ask.

India's first sex museum in the western city of Bombay takes curious visitors on a journey into a world that is still considered taboo in the tradition-bound country. Unlike similar museums in the West, the Bombay museum aims to tutor rather than titillate.

- Reuters