The Beauty of Idolatry

It was deeply interesting and upsetting to learn through Diana Eck that before the early 20th century,

the common reaction of Westerners to Hindu idols was repugnance. The amount of effort and intention

that goes into creating the massive and elaborate idols, in my opinion, deserves to be respected and

appreciated. Moreover, what Hindus choose to do with the idols they created, should be entirely up to

them. Eck explains that over a hundred years ago, most Westerners had a “biblical mindset”. They

thought that idolatry was worshipping a created thing rather than worshipping the creator.

I guess I thought that this was kind of silly, because if they had educated themselves on the perspective

of the Hindus, then they would know that the idols were only meant to be temporary representations of

their deities, and they did not consider it disrespectful to dispose of these creations after they served their

purpose.

I had no idea how big a role idols and representations of holy religious beings played in the Hindu

traditions, but I was amazed by the videos that showed these massive and intricate idols. As an artist,

I appreciate all of the beautiful marble murtis of deities such as Ganesha, Shiva, pictured below.

Images courtesy of Etsy Sellers.

https://www.etsy.com/search?q=marble%20murti