Kyle Tortora

New Stone & Wood Shipment from Bali arrived February 10th, 2019

A shipment of stone and wood statues has just arrived from Bali. We get about 4 containers a year from Bali but this one was special. I was excited to see the wood panels I custom designed on my last trip to Bali. I knew that I wanted to give my wood artists more work and I have been hearing from customers, like you, that you wanted more wood wall panels.

I spoke with my fat and happy Buddha artist, Will, about him carving large Fat and Happy Buddha masks with only the smiling face of the Buddha as a wall hanging. Here they are and they look amazing! The grains of the wood are beautiful and just add life to the joy emanating from the Happy Buddha mask! I am so happy with Will’s work!

Click here to view the Fat and Happy Buddha Masks and all of Mr Will’s work.

The first fat and happy Buddha mask we unwrapped from this shipment. Beautiful! — View our smiling Happy Buddha masks hand carved by the artist, Mr. Will

I also spoke to a wood artist, Mr Komang, about carving different types of wood panels. He typically only carves trees and flowers for panels but I love his work so I really wanted to work together with him to help him grow so I sent him pictures for ideas about what I would want for Lotus Sculpture. He was very excited and said he could surely carve what I was looking to do. We quickly agreed on the designs and this is the first time I am seeing them. They came out exactly how I envisioned them! I am so happy that I am bringing a new artist into the fold and giving him more work!

Kyle, founder of Lotus Sculpture, holding the first panel I unwrapped in this shipment of Mr Komang's work — View all our wood panels of Lakshmi, Ganesh, Buddha and OM symbols carved by Mr Komang

We also received about 50 stone statues mostly of the Buddha that will prepare us for the coming Spring season!

You can always view our Garden Buddha Statues here.

Or click here to view our New Arrivals which are posted daily.

White Marble Shipment from Varanasi, India Arrived Oct 17th, 2018

In 2016 I took a trip to Varanasi, India to buy white marble statues from Vijay. After 2 years of waiting the shipment has finally arrived!
The shipment contains white marble, black marble, and sunnar stone of Hindu gods and the Buddha. Included were 8 huge statues of the Buddha, Shiva, Ganesh, Saraswati, and Lakshmi!
You can view all our marble statues from this shipment here, View Marble Statues

<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span>
Unloading a crate with a 4-foot tall white marble Lakshmi in it

All the crates inside the warehouse

The crates were HUGE!

6 foot tall painted Lakshmi and Ganesha statues

6 foot tall Saraswati and Shiva along with 4-foot tall statues of Durga, Shiva, and Lakshmi

You can view all our marble statues from this shipment here, View Marble Statues

Or you can look for these and other new arrivals posted daily on our New Arrivals page.

Our next shipment will be a wood and marble shipment from South India arriving on October 19th!

How to Make a Base for your Garden Statue

On an almost daily basis, I have people asking me about a base or stand for their garden Buddha and Hindu statues. Many times the statue is perfect but on some occasions, an extra 6 or 12 inches is needed to make it ideal for their space. Here are 3 things that I tell to everyone on how to go about fashioning a pedestal for your statue.

*This stone garden Buddha statue is raised on a base of local river stone surrounded by paving stones to raise the entire bed up about 12 inches*

Look locally

I feel that each region has its own dominant colors and textures found in nature. San Diego is a desert and thus there is a tan sandstone, desert feel to it. The northeast of the States has fall colors and granite stone. Look at the colors in your back yard and then head down to a local masonry store, quarry, or anywhere that would sell local stone. See if they sell chunks of local stone. Most likely you will find many smaller pieces that would need to be placed together but you may get lucky enough to find a whole block!

Pavers

Head over to your local hardware store and see what they have for pavers. These can easily be arranged in whatever shape and height you would like. I have seen pavers used with and without mortar so you may not need to make too much of a mess.

Build your own base!

*The perfect base made from a concrete mold!*

This is the most do-it-yourself option of the 3. A customer of ours sent in a picture to our #mylotussculpture page with one of our Buddha Head fountains on a beautiful base and I immediately noticed the base the Buddha’s head was on. This option is great because you have control over the shape and the height of the base. Here are the directions he gave to me for making a base:

a. We bought an oval 40 gallon Tuff Stuff Tub from Tractor Supply and used it as a mold. We chose that because the edges were curved and gave the base a nice shape for Buddha and around the right size.

b. Mixed concrete and charcoal colored dye in the tub itself and just added the right amount of concrete to get the base height we wanted. Then when the concrete cured, we flipped it over to use as the base. It comes out very easily. We applied satin polyurethane to the base to keep it scratch resistant and look a little darker. It probably cost around $60 to do this.

If you have any other suggestions please email me at kyle@lotussculpture.com and I will be happy to add them!

*The customer went to the local masonry store and picked up the perfect block of local stone for Garden Ganesha!*

*4 rows of pavers lifted the Buddha head up an additional 24 inches!*

*The customer created a base using local leftover shale stone*

March 29, 2018August 19, 2020

8 Guidelines for Setting up a Home Mandir for your Murtis

In every Hindu home, you will find a small home altar or mandir for the proper worship of the homes murtis. A murti is an embodiment of a Hindu god in any form which is usually a statue of the god or goddesses. The number one rule to remember when constructing dir in the home is that there are no rules, only guidelines. That being said, let’s get to the guidelines!

Where does a Mandir go in your home?
One should devote an entire room to construct the mandir; however, if this is not available you can simply choose a quiet corner of a room somewhere in the house. According to the Vastu Shastra (traditional Hindu architecture), the home altar room should always be the northeastern most room in the home & the shrine itself should be in the northeastern most corner of that room chosen as this aids with the flow of proper energy or chakra.
Which Gods Should be in the Home Altar?
The main devas or Gods found in any home are, and by no means limited to Ganesha, Parvati, Shiva, Vishnu, & Krishna. Sometimes households only care for one deity while others prefer to have an entire pantheon. Regardless of how many deities reside in the shrine, there is always one Ishta Deva (a personal favorite). This deity’s area on the shrine is the centermost seat & is always the most elaborate & the best kept.
Three words. Ganesha, Ganesha, & Ganesha!
It is extremely important to note that Ganesha-ji should always have a place in every mandir. It just wouldn’t be a temple without him! Since he is the lord of beginnings, as a rule of thumb he is always placed in the mandir before any other deity.
There is a small Ganesh statue on the right of this mandir to Lord Rama
Shop for Ganesha Statues>>
What should the Mandir be made from?
A ready-made mandir is ideal to house murtis; however, not everyone has a temple lying about. A small table with a saffron-colored cloth draped over it will do perfectly in its absence. You will also need an incense burner, a diya(oil lamp), a bell, & a small box or jar to hold dakshina (offering of money).
Cabinet for Supplies
It might not be too bad of an idea to keep a small cabinet or something nearby the mandir to hold all the supplies & things needed to perform pūjā (worship), aarti (lighting of ghee candles), & general upkeep of the mandir.
Placement of Murtis
The murtis should be placed on this table or in the ready-made mandir facing towards you. Ideally, the murtis should be placed on a smaller platform on top of the table or within the mandir; though, this is not absolutely necessary.
Clothing
Murtis should also be given some form of clothing, flowers, incense, & other offerings regularly as the murtis are quite literally seen as physical manifestations of god(s).
Care and Love
It’s imperative to remember to always take care of the mandir, make regular offerings of food, incense, and flowers, and to meditate in front of the mandir in order to ensure the mandir’s general upkeep. Shop for Bronze Hindu Murtis>>

*Home Mandir to Pantheon of Hindu Gods from our customer Graziano in Rome, Italy*

Bitcoin and Litecoin Payments now accepted by Lotus Sculpture

Lotus Sculpture now accepts both bitcoin and litecoin as a form of payment. The value of the statue and the shipping will be converted directly into US dollars. Any returns will be issued in US dollars. We do not account for fluctuations in the cryptocurrency markets.

We strive to make it easy for our customers to have every option for making the sculpture of their dream a reality!

If you would like to pay using either of these two payment methods please email the owner of Lotus Sculpture, Kyle, directly at kyle@lotussculpture.com or call 1-760-994-4455.

Page 3 Of 25