The Ananga Ranga is an Indian book on the human sexuality that is frequently confounded with the Kama Sutra (with even some authors referring to the Ananga Ranga as a part of the Kama Sutra, a mistake that is very common on online "versions" of both books containing sex positions). Such mistake probably happens due to the fact that both books are written on the same language and deals with similar subjects (both also including depictions of sex positions). Another similarity between both books is that linguist and explorer Sir Richard Burton, being the Kama Sutra published in 1883 and the Ananga Ranga two years later, published both English translations from the originals in Sanskrit.

However strong a connection between the two works, the author Kalyana Malla used the information obtained in the Kama Sutra as one of the sources to write the Ananga Ranga, in the early 16th century (the former was written between 1st and 6th centuries). The most perceptible difference between the books is that the Ananga Ranga was entirely devoted to sex, while the Kama Sutra also deals with ethic and social aspects of the ancient Indian life (although the book is often referred as a simple list of sex positions).

The author of Ananga Ranga believed that the main reason for separation between married couples was the desire of the husband to have varied pleasures due to the monotony in the relationship. For that reason, the Ananga Ranga was written in order to prevent this separation, by including descriptions of several different types of kissing, biting, and even spanking, not to mention a whole collection of sex positions. Such sex positions were divided in chapters, according to initial positions. Kalyana believed the maintenance of a marriage to be the man's responsibility, and for that reason, the Ananga Ranga was written exclusively for men. Ananga Ranga is also known as Kama Shastra, particularly in editions that focus on the sex positions chapters.

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