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Murtis (singular Murti, also spelled Murthi or Murthy) refers to deities or images used by Hindus and also by some Mahayana Buddhists during worship as points of devotional and meditational focus. They are sometimes abstract, but more often anthropomorphic representations of forms of God like Shiva or Ganesh, Rama 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 worshiped in a form. Murti is made according to prescriptions of shilpa shastra and then installed by priests through the prana pratistha ('establishing the life') ceremony. Afterward the divine personality is present in the murti but in cases of serious discrepancies in worship may leave the 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 like Arya Samaj 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 Abrahamic 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 also

• icon
• Ishta-Deva

External links

• Deity worship site (ISKCON, Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya)
• Bhakti Dayita Madhava Gosvami Maharaja on difference between idol and murti

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