The Little Book of Hindu Deities: From the Goddess of Wealth to the Sacred Cow

by Sanjay Patel

Book Overview

Pixar animator and Academy Award-nominated director Sanjay Patel (Sanjay's Super Team) brings to life Hinduism's most important gods and goddesses--and one sacred stone--in fun, full-color illustrations, each accompanied by a short, lively profile.

The Little Book of Hindu Deities is chock-full of monsters, demons, noble warriors, and divine divas. Find out why Ganesha has an elephant's head (his father cut his off ); why...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0452287758
• ISBN13: 9780452287754
• Release Date: October 2006
• Publisher: Plume Books
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.3" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Fun and informative

Great for children or people just wanting a verrrrry little understanding of the deities background. Worth the money for sure :). Easy and fun to read.

Really enlightening!

I found this book really mind-blowing. I grew up in India.However didn't get to know much about hinduism, because Mom was an athiest. But had the basic knowledge about Hindu Gods from different sources(Family, visiting Temples, Television,Movies etc). As I grew up, had lot of basic questions, and really felt bad about it. Thought it was too late for me to ask now. I read this book and it cleared all by grey areas. thanks to Sanjay. Also, because he has presented very crisp information in a simple way, it is just so easy to understand. Overall, it's a very handy book and am glad now I can pass some knowledge to the next generations to come.

Wah Wah Ramji!

This is an entertaining and educational book concerning the Hindu Pantheon. Although it has the appearance of a children's book, this is actually aimed towards a teenage audience and regardless of your age this is just a great introduction and pictorial glossary of the Hindu gods and goddesses. Anyone that's attempted to take on the Bhagavad-Gita or heaven-forbid the entire Mahabharata without having at least a rudimentary knowledge of the Hindu Pantheon will no doubt find themselves confused. This book isn't written for children as the language is about middle school to high school level, not to mention the many Hindi words the book introduces. The book is easily laid out as an easy resource guide that you can turn to whenever you need a refresher concerning a particular god, goddess, or avatar. Each pair of pages is an illustration of the god or subject being discussed with the description on the other. Table of contents 10 Introduction 14 Ganesha 19 Trimurti - Hindu Trinity 27 Manifestations of Shiva 39 Mother Goddess (Mahadevi) 52 Ten Avatars of Vishnu 74 Hindu Epics 83 Demigods 102 Nine Planets 123 Animal Gods 132 Chronology of Creation The 'Samurai Jack' style illustrations are well done and add a personality that is easy to identify with. Using this book will add a element of fun to your studies of Hindu literature or perhaps just help you to know just what the heck they are always talking about in those Bollywood movies. Whatever your purpose, the only time you will be disappointed with this book is when you turn the last page.

My husband reads it to my 2 year old - both love it!

The visuals are captivating and engaging. There's a good dose of humour in there as well. My 2 year old loves to look at the pictures. My husband and I want to expose our children to all the different religious beliefs, mythologies and ideas we can. This is a great way to introduce the primary Hindu Deities to a house that hasn't had much exposure to them.

Witty, Playful Take on Hinduism

This was described to me as "a younger, hipper take on Hinduism." You get fifty deities, demigods, avatars, mythical planets and epic characters. The art is eye-catching and happy looking. A page is devoted to each deity with a picture and easy text. It can be used to keep Asian-American kids in touch with their culture or to introduce anyone to what Hinduism is.

Full of humor, sweet and educational

I bought this book when it was still being self-published. My daughter loves it. It's a great guide to Hindu deities. There's wonderful subtle humor in it and the drawings are wonderful. It's been a great addition to our library to teach our daughter about world religions.