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Since the common mind of man cannot comprehend the abstractness and transcendence of the nameless and formless version of God, different idols and images enter the picture. These myriad symbols, images and idols are only symbols, images and idols. They are not substitutes for God. Each of these points to the Supreme Power inherent in everybody and it is that One God who is worshipped in the form of idols and images. We are worshipping God in the idol and not the idol as God. This fundamental point about idol worship is the most important lesson that one should learn about Hinduism. So long as you think it is an idol you have not got it. People who do not believe in God propose excuses to find fault with the worship of God through idols and appear to be 'more loyal' than the religious, by putting forth the argument that God is formless and so should not be worshipped through idols. God can take any form and so the form of the idol is good enough for us to worship God.

Idol worship can probably be understood by the incomplete example of a flag of an army. An idol for a devotee is what a flag is for the army. But the idol is more than a flag. This is where the incompleteness of the example arises. An idol, by constant worship through Mantras culled from the scriptures, is actually the very deity which has been invoked into the physical frame of the idol, by Mantra-chanting. In Hinduism, the same question will have different answers to different levels of questioners. From the point of view that there is only one absolute Truth and everything else is only a manifestation of that Truth, an idol is only a representation and not the 'real thing'. But from the point of view of a devotee who needs to worship Divinity in name and form, the images and idols which have been sanctified by the various Mantras and rituals are themselves the deities which have as much power as the Absolute. Thus the idol of a deity is the deity itself. So

and hosts of such santified 'images and idols' should not be cast into the role of just a 'representation' of the Absolute as a flag for the army. It is with this orientation that every devotee approaches a temple and worships the deity in the temple. In the beginning his attitude is to assume that the Lord God is in the idol. But the Lord is certainly everywhere and so, in due time, the devotee, by the Lord's Grace, realises that his assumption that the Lord God is in the idol, is actually a truism. Thus what starts as an attitude or assumption, even though one may not have a belief, results in the realisation of the truth and this is far more than just belief or faith. This is the esoteric significance of idol worship. The millions of devotees who have benefited by such worship over the centuries both in their personal homes and in public temples constitute the unique testimony for the validity of this significance.

One more observation before we leave the topic of idol worship. Any worship for that matter introduces a duality between the worshipper and the worshipped and so is a comedown from the unique mental cognition of the Divinity inherent in oneself. Hinduism is therefore human enough to admit within its fold even those ordinary mortals who cannot rise, in their understanding, above the grossly concrete representations of God. In fact the religion goes even one step further. It says, in essence, each individual can worship God in whatever form that suits his competence, taste, and stage of spiritual evolution. This principle is in fact a recognition of the weakness of Man. If the grossest manifestation is the only thing that suits one's taste, mood, psychological make-up or intellect, one is free to worship God in that form. Even the same person may worship an idol at one time and at another time may meditate and attempt to merge in the transcendental Reality which is the basic chip that we are all made of, if we care to look within ourselves. One may choose one's favourite deity (ishta-devata, in Sanskrit) and worship that as if it were the Ultimate. To be free to find expression to one's search for a personal God and seek His Grace for the purification of one's mind is a prerogative which every Hindu enjoys. This is the reason why the definition of a Hindu cannot be pigeon-holed into any grid that the western mind is familiar with. It is an extension of this thought that makes Hinduism a very tolerant religion. It is this train of thought in the Hindu mind that makes it live with different Puranas extolling different deities. The Siva Purana may say that Siva is the greatest God, every other God is subordinate to it. The Vishnu Purana may say the same thing of Vishnu. There is no contradiction meant, implied or slurred over. Such is the eclecticism of the religion. Here we certainly invite the criticism that Hinduism is too tolerant. But, is there something like too rich a man or too beautiful a woman?

Hindu tradition has mainly six types of Ishta-Devata (=favourite deity) worship. These can be listed as the worship of

These six are the original subtle manifestations of the Absolute Transcendental Reality. The Avatars (=Divine Descents) of Vishnu, like Rama and Krishna are more concrete manifestations of the same Absolute Reality. So they are identified with Vishnu in the above list. Every other variation of the favourite deity worship may be considered as belonging to one or a combination of these six traditions. In addition, the choice of the favourite deity, instead of being an academic exercise, became a choice of one among the thousands of temples all over the country and the deity chosen may very well be the particular deity enshrined in that particular temple, with a specific name and form, though belonging to one of the six streams of divinities listed above. Thus arose the concept of each family, having a kula-devata (=family deity) and this is sacredly revered as a legacy from generation to generation among the male descendents of the same family. It is this variety that gives richness to Hinduism and it is this possibility of 'to each according to his need and capacity' that brings together under the one banner of Hinduism people with varying practices, attitudes and states of evolution. Accordingly carving of images of gods both for worship at home and in the temples became one of the most highly developed art and profession in India. The religious life of India has thus been nourished through the ages on a visual panorama, unmatched, perhaps, in the history of any civilization.