why do hindus worship Gods made by themselves?statues?

Question

i mean...just look at this...they make their Gods themselves!with stone n wood!...
these "Gods" cant even help themselves for hushing a single fly sitting on them..what to talk of helping the human beings?
arent human beings superior to stone n wood?
i mean seriously, im at a loss for any explanation...i dont mean any provocation or any such thing but plzzzzzzzz make me understand their philosophy!! please dont be offended.
this is a thing nagging my mind for sooo long!!
im really sorry if someone finds this offending!i dont mean to! but i just cant now keep my mouth shut on this thing!plzz...
i'd prefer a hinduism follower to answer this because they know better than this naive being asking the question.:)

Answer 1

Well many religions in the world ,be it christianity or other have statues made of something or other where all these cannot even hush a single fly away.
lets take an example when someone needs to recognise you to meet you and they are given your photograph ,the photograph of yours cannot act like you as you can hush the fly and it cannot.
statues of hindu gods are only a force of reconginization of god and not god.
There are few religions in the world which even dont give the photograph to its followers to recoginze their god.
It's very simple if i have a photograph of my God my job of getting him is easier else tougher like that of muslims as they see in to the vaccum when they pray.
and last but not the least when you konw nothing about a religion you can put a positive question and if you put a negitive question like this you have a similar answer.

Answer 2

Vedic temples are like launching pads where one performs those activities that assist in reaching higher dimensions. They are the doorways to more advanced realms and where pilgrims and devotees go to make an outward display of their devotion to their Deities.

Though God is within us all, and religion or yoga is very often an inward process, God can manifest externally as the Deity, the arca-vigraha incarnation, through which He accepts the devotee's service while he or she is in the material realm. These devotional activities, such as simple darshan (seeing the Deity and being seen by the Deity), are considered purifying for one's life and consciousness.

The goal is to continue on this path until one's thoughts are purified to the point where one sheds his or her materialistic consciousness and can enter the spiritual realm, at least by the time of death if not before. Thus, everyone tries to visit the nearest temple a few times a day, or tries to make pilgrimages to the famous holy places.

It is explained that the Deity is not a product of someone's imagination, but is made in accordance with the ancient Vedic texts, called the Shilpasutras, which deal with the science of iconography.

Everything about the Deity, such as its proportions, the postures, hand gestures, weapons (if any), the emblems, etc., all mean something. Therefore, it is very important that every part of the Deity is formed properly.

The Deity may also have different features which represent different aspects, abilities, powers, or pastimes. After the Deity is formed, there is the elaborate installation ceremony during which the Deity is installed in the temple. At this time the devotees and priests petition the personality of the Supreme Being to take up residence in the form of the Deity. Only then does the Deity become the arca-vigraha, or worshipable incarnation of the Supreme.

It is considered that since God is the controller of both material and spiritual energies, He can turn something material into spiritual energy or vice versa. Thus, the Deity, which may appear to be made of common material elements, becomes spiritual and allows us to see spiritual form with our material senses. Out of the causeless mercy of the Supreme, He agrees to reside within the form of the Deity to accept the worship of His devotees.

To discuss further:-Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari ([e-mail])

Answer 3

Man made idols are for concentration and to prevent deviation of your mind while praying. God created everything and so anything is God`s manifestation and can be worshipped as per Hinduism. Catholic Christians worship Mary, Infant Jesus and Christ on cross. Other Christians pray before a wooden cross that is man made.All churches have man made cross as the peak. Man made candle light glorifies all such crosses.Muslims keep a copy of Qoran only at a specified place and remove shoes while touching and reading it. Muslims also turn towards Mecca and imagine Kaaba in mind while praying. Your religion should be based on your faith ,not on what your family members think.

Answer 4

Okay, maybe I can help you ...I'm an atheist. The statue or carving is just a symbol. It is a focal point in the temple which everyone can gaze at as they are worshipping their God. The hindus are so devout that in their mind the statue or carving actually 'becomes' the God that they are adoring. He comes down to Earth to visit...as it were. They believe that they are transcending out of this plane of existence into the spiritual plane where the God resides. I mean, come on, I get it and I don't even believe in anything supernatural at all.

Answer 5

Well, I'm not a Hindu, but I am a pagan, so I have some chance of being able to express the variety of belief that we have in common.
The statue...whether Buddha, a Lingham, the Horned One, the Goddess, or Christ on the cross, ..... is a physical symbol of a metaphysical reality. By making the symbol correspond to the aspects of the metaphysical being as much as possible, when a human focuses on it intensely 'enough', passionately 'enough', demonstrating his/her devotion 'enough' (these latter two being expressions of putting energy into your focus), s/he can get in direct contact with that being.
What 'enough' is, depends on the person, the belief, and how much they are able to completely release the process (thus making the process into a spell whose purpose is to contact a deity).

Answer 6

This is a compleetly non bias report. I noteced that most your answers are opinions, rember to not let anyone think for you.
Also I dout you will find a Hindu anywhere on the internet so dont expect a true answer here, maby just look at a book in somewhere or use (I hate when people say this) a search engine.



For starters they are not where Satan wants them because they are "false worshipers". Don't get me startsd on "False" people or Religions.
I know because I have read most of the "Holy" Bible and I read somewhere in it, (ask me where & I could tell you in about a week because I have forgot the exact page and line) somewhere near the begining, God is talking to someone and he (God) tells this person who is a Jew "You must worship me and only me. Forget all the other Gods & Idols, the Stars & the sun. I have left them for the people of other Nations to worship."

So there you go.
I will tell you its harder to find a Christian, especially a Catholic (false worshiper(imo)) who has even read the book of there Loard than it is to find a Hindu talkin' bout Jesus. lol.

Here is your answer (it might take time to read but you asked for it and I will make it as short as I can (by the time I finished writing it someone else has probly already writen what you wan't)).


Hinduism began about 2000 years before Christ from a colection of Indian Relegions.

For hindus there is one main God, called "Braham". But this God shows itself in many different forms. These various forms of Braham are also called Gods, but they are really aspects or reflections or expressions of the one supreem God, Braham. In fact everyone and everything in the world is a reflection of Braham.

Some of the most important Gods (aspects of reflections of Braham) are; "Indra" the God of wer, Mitra the Sun God, "Varuna" the God who upholds the whole world, "Braham" the creator God, "Vishnu" the God who preserves the whole world, "Shiva" the destroyer God.
These Gods themselves also took various forms. So, one of the reflections or expressions of Vishnu "who took on a human form" is Krishna.

For the Hindus the whole world, including the people in it, is a kind of reflection or expression or manifestation of Braham. Some Hindus believe that the whole world is part of God; people may think that the many things in the world are different and seperate from God, but this, so they say, is an illusion (maya). In reality all these many different things are part of the one Braham.
We (Hindus) cannot really describe Braham because it is much greater and more perfect than the many limmited and imperfict forms through which it is expressed.



Okay thats basicly answers your question.

Answer 7

From the point of view of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Hinduism is what Christianity terms 'paganism'.

From the point of view of Hinduism, Judaism, Christian and Islam can be seen as sects of Hinduism.

Hinduism, as a world religion, is very bottom-up, with little top down theology. Some Hindus see the large number of gods and goddess as manifestions of a single Godhead.

Answer 8

You do realize that the statues aren't actually the gods themselves?

Hinduism does not have in its scriptures or tenets a commandment to refrain from idolatry, so Hindus aren't particularly perturbed by a statue of Khali or Krishna.

Answer 9

Just to correct everybody's information, Muslims don't consider Kaaba as their God .

Kaaba is considered the house of Allah and not Allah.

No single Muslim worship this house that is made of stones.

Saying that Muslims are worshiping stones is exactly the opposite of Muslim's faith. They worship Allah who is in the Sky and not on earth.

At the beginning, Hindus were focusing on the statues in order to visualize their God and with the time they worship the stones.

But in Islam case they never do the same.

Kaaba was selected by Allah to unify their direction to one point to symbolize that they all worship one God.

Idolatry is considered the highest sin in Islam that will keep the person in hell forever.

Answer 10

It is very easy to find faults in other faiths.. You have an objection as to why Hindus worship idols made by them

Why christians worship idols of jesus and marry... are these statues sent by God ...or made by men and can an idol of Jesus hush a fly On....what a stupid thinking !!

You have a photograph of your parents...and you respect that foto ( i hope u dont spit on that)... so i should say your parents were made of paper !! and not real !!

Muslims too worship an uncut idol(sotne) in Kabaa

Sikhs worship some papers (a book) as God !!

I do not say all of the above are idiots.... It is first step to meditation to have an outer object for concentration

Each one in this world, is not born with higher mind to concentrate on the God who is supreme consciousness spread evenly in the Universe.

The idols used by hindus are a sort of external mode of concentrating your thoughts.... Slowly when one advances in spirituality...these outer objects are not required and one is fixed in his SELF.

Hinduism gives full liberty to its followers to love/worship God in any form they like...like father or Mother or beloved or friend...so each one makes his own image of god.

And remember Hinduism does not believe in a cruel king Like God sitting at 7th or 9th sky. We know God is supreme consciousness who manifests as this universe

Hindus believe all living beings have a spark of God in them.