This is another commonly misunderstood tradition of Hinduism. Not understanding the philosophy and reasons for worship of images to represent God, many people think Hindus worship stone or the pictures that we use for worship as God Himself............................................ Actually the Hindu representation of God through worship is not much more different than the use of images and symbols of worship that can be found in other religions. However, the use of images for worship in Hindu temples does have a deeper esoteric significance than simple symbolism or as a point of reference for our devotion. Before we get into this deeper aspect of image worship lets understand what an idol is....... Idol is a word often used in a derogatory manner when describing the method of worship in religions such as Hinduism, Confucian Taoism and other religions. However, the word idol itself is a word used for people or personalities we highly regard or admire. In fact it is an age old practice of all civilizations to make idols of influential figures and leaders of their community. Making of idols is recognized as a way for a community or an individual to show appreciation or to recognize the contributions of another. In fact the title of the hit reality show such as American idol describes this meaning of the word idol........... When the word idol is understood from this perspective than it is indeed true that Hindus are idol worshippers. We idolize God and make images of Him or Her and use it for worship because this is very much a natural part human expression of appreciation. However, we certainly do not worship the element the idol or image is made of as God. It is only a representation of God very much like how we don't recognize a statue of Mahatma Gandhi........................ as Mahatma Gandhi the person, but rather as an object in his likeness to remind us of the life and contributions of Mahatma Gandhi to society. The deeper aspect of image worship in Hinduism is in its use in temples. When established properly in the sanctum of a temple, the image or murthi plays a special role as a conduit of Gods blessings to His or Her devotees. The ceremonies done by the priest in the temple turn the stone, wood or crystal image from a simple physical object to a doorway into God's abode in the Brahmaloka through which communication takes place between the physical and spiritual realms. So........ the murthi actually becomes a spiritual machine. Thus extra special attention and care is given to a temple deity. People who do not understand this metaphysical science behind the role of the murthi in the temple will generally mistake the reverence we give to the image as a primitive or lowly form of worship.
