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Swami Achuthananda is an Australian-based Indian author specializing in Hindu mythology. He has published a number of books on Hinduism and Hindu deities. A distinguishing feature of his books is the cover in which the title is embedded inside a Hindu tantric yantra. His books combine mythology with social and political issues and have sometimes been controversial.

Swami Achuthananda’s first book was titled Many Many Many Gods of HinduismItalic text and was self-published in 2013 with the now defunct CreateSpace. The book won several awards in its category. It was the winner of the 2014 Next Generation Book Awards (Religion), a finalist in the 2014 Pacific Book Awards, and received the bronze in the 2014 IPPY Awards. In the book, Achuthananda emphasizes that religion and culture are entwined. One cannot understand the religion without understanding the culture and vice versa. While a third of the book is dedicated to controversies, four chapters in it were exclusively against the negative portrayal of Hinduism in Western academic studies. Achuthananda railed against the practice of denigrating Hindu gods in the name of psychoanalysis. Thus a book about the controversies in Hinduism created more controversy.

From 2014 Achuthananda embarked on writing a seven-part series on Hindu mythology entitled The Galaxy of Hindu GodsBold text. The central premise of this series is Hindus deities are not always perfect, and only perfect in their spheres of activity. The first book in this series titled The Reign of the Vedic GodsItalic text was published in June 2018. The Vedic gods are the most ancient of Hindu gods and are closely associated with the Greek and Roman gods. They include luminaries like Indra, Surya, Varuna, Agni, and others. Today a minor deity, Indra was once the ruler of the three worlds who, under the influence of a mysterious power drink called soma, fought with the demons and vanquished them. His reign did not last long. His comrades Surya and Varuna also had their glory days but were overthrown by other gods of the pantheon. Yet, after thousands of years, gods like Indra, Surya, and Varuna are still household names in India and honored in Hindu rituals and traditions.

The second book of the series titled The Ascent of Vishnu and the Fall of BrahmaItalic text was published in August 2018. In this volume, two of the most powerful gods of Hinduism, Brahma and Vishnu, are described. According to Achuthananda, Brahma held a lofty position in the Hindu pantheon, but lost his popularity over the years to Vishnu. Besides mythological stories of Vishnu and Brahma, the book also describes Angkor Wat, one of the largest Vishnu temples in the world. The author describes the emergence of bhakti (devotion) as a major form of worship and how it became pervaded Hindu society. For Achuthananda, nothing exemplifies bhakti more than the dancing-and-chanting Hare Krishnas.

The third book of the series was titled Rama and the Early Avatars of VishnuItalic text and describes seven of the early avatars of Vishnu. The remaining three has been left for the next book, which is not yet published. Hindus believe that whenever cosmic balance is threatened, Vishnu descends into the world as an avatar of change. Vishnu has many avatars, but his top ten avatars are special and known as the Dashavataras. The highlight of this volume undoubtedly is Rama, the hero of the Ramayana and a name that is synonymous with dharma. About half the book is dedicated to Rama. A shortened version of the Ramayana is also included, particularly the controversies. The monkey-faced Hanuman, who is often associated with Rama and highly revered among Hindus, is another deity described in the book.

Only three books of the series The Galaxy of Hindu Gods have been published so far.