Murti

Murtis are statues or images used by Hindus during worship as points of devotional and meditational focus. They are sometimes abstract, but more often anthropomorphic representations of Gods and Goddesses like Shiva or Ganesh, Ram or Krishna, Saraswati or Kali. Because the mind is in turbulence (vritti) and incapable of focussing on God as a formless, abstract concept, God is given form.

Devotional (Bhakti) practices are centered on cultivating a deep and personal bond of love with god through one of his or her forms, and often make use of murtis. Some Hindu denominations however reject image-worship.

Murti worship is commonly equated with idolatry by many followers of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This view of murtis being idols misapplies Judeo-Christian ideas to Hindu practices and fails to reflect actual Vedic philosophy and Hindu belief. The Hindu concept of murti worship is far closer to that of the icon, and consists of veneration of the image or statue as representative of a higher ideal or principle rather than objectifying divinity as the material object itself.

• See icon
• See Ishta-Deva