why do Hindus worship idols?
Idol worship has grown to a derogatory connotation for western mindsets. This is mainly because of the protests from other faiths that fall under the abrahamic spectrum (Islam, Christianity, Judaism). Critiques such as God is eternal and one, a statue that is man made will cause the follower to be in sin if they use it as a worship aid. Hindus have a different view on this subject. Hopefully, this post will give a fair explanation and end some misunderstandings.
Hindus believe a wide variety of things with many commonly shared core beliefs. Amongst the majority of its followers, God being omnipresent is one of them. With God technically being everywhere simultaneously, instead of some far-off skybox completely separate from us, this gives believers justification for the worship of murtis aka the statue or idol.
“Everywhere are His hands and feet, eyes, heads and faces. His ears too are in all places, for he pervades everything in the universe.” Bhagavad Gita 13.14
Abrahamic religions label this understanding as Pantheism and disagree with everything being interwoven in the fabric of God. God according to their understanding can be omnipresent and even be within us but that does not make people a tiny speck of the divine. The creator may be accessible to all but is independent of the material universe. This is transcendence to the ultimate degree.
If you were to stumble into a Hindu temple, even household, there is a high probability you will see this visual representation of the divine. The murti itself is not God, one hundred percent confined within that statue and nowhere else. Omnipresence in this understanding means the divine creator is within everything, even us humans have a tiny drop of divine in us, as we traverse this enormous ocean of supreme existence. The murti is a mere focal point, with a purpose of aiding in worship.
This might sound like a contradiction to the traditional definition, which primarily states the worship of a cult image, idol or person [instead] of god. But if you view things in a paradigm where everything physical has a trace of divine in it, in a way that is still God being worshipped because the Lord permeates through everything in existence. As long as the follower is focusing on God and not being one-dimensional focusing solely on the physical object, then God is being worshipped not vice versa.
Imagery is a way for humans to comprehend the supreme. Visualization is using one of our basic senses to better understand. For example, the symbolism in the deity ganesh the deity Ganesh. Elephants are very intelligent creatures, hence one of his trait’s wisdom. Elephants were usually reserved for the wealthier classes in the past. That is why Ganesh is also attributed to granting prosperity. Ganesh, essentially represents key aspects of the almighty. Another example is the Goddess Saraswati. She holds a book to represent infinite intellect God possess. Praying in focus of Saraswati invokes wisdom.
In a way, it can be argued all religions use imagery in the aid of worship. Christians hang crosses on walls, necks in reverence of the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made on their behalf. Even in Islam from the beautiful mosques to the beautified Arabic script written in ways to be looked at to admire and focus on our creator.
To conclude, the true idolatry to a Hindu would be anything that keeps a follower away from God. Being overwhelmed by human desires such as greed and lust to replace focus God in an individual’s life. Succumbing to worldly delusions instead of proper religion. Contrast this with a statue of God built to inspire and channel minds towards worship and reverence is a good thing.