Hindu Altars: A Pop-up Gallery of Traditional Art and Wisdom

by Robert Beer (Contributor), Tad Wise, Bruce Foster (Design)

Hardcover issued with no dust jacket. The book opens out as a "triptych" to stand upright. Each page features a different Hindu religious figure. Pages are held back, to change the featured page, with elastic cords on the corners of the triptych.

4 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 2007

About the author

Robert Beer has studied and practiced Tibetan thangka painting for thirty years, including five years of study with master artists Jampa of Dharamsala and Khamtrül Rinpoche of Tashijong. Beer is one of the first Westerners to become actively involved in this art form. Over the last two decades he has concentrated on an extensive series of iconographical drawings depicting the major deities, lineage holders, and symbols that occur in the spectrum of Tibetan art.

Reviews

[David Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. It has wonderful pop-up altars complete with mantras for each deity. The art work is stunning beautiful and well crafted.

[Bernie4444 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Expand the universe

I saw this “Portable Alters” and had to buy it. It adds to the visualization and can be used as a portable altar. However, I find it quite fragile for constant use. Be careful at first while popping this popup.
The alters include:
Laksbmi
Shiva Nataraja
Durga
Ganesha

They could make a few more editions for the other left-out deities.

Now it makes a great coffee table centerpiece. For those planning on a tad more depth as using this as a focal point, the descriptions are excessively brief and I suggest that the user also read “The Complete Idiot's Guide to Hinduism.”

[Tami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hindu Altars is a pop-up book that sits flat on any surface and portrays in full colour and action for four different deities. What an interesting concept! I think this item would be perfect for a young child just learning about these deities. Not only would the child learn a little about these individuals but he or she would also have a bit of fun bringing each illustration to life.

Despite the obvious pop-up appeal to children, I think that anyone wanting to create a quick to set up, easy to move altar would also find this book useful. This would be absolutely perfect when traveling or when trying to find a nice quiet place to meditate.

The four deities represented in this altar are Lakshmi (Vaishnava tradition- path of devotion), Shiva Nataraja (Shaivite tradition- paths of meditation and knowledge), Durga (Shakta tradition- path of action), and Ganesha (Smarta tradition- path of knowledge and action. Each page shows the mantra of each deity, including the overall purpose of the phrase and full pronunciation. Each figure is also shown as traditionally represented including associated common elements and mudras.