Idol - Religious Wordship

A positive energy revolving around the earth, a cosmic ray where there is hope, light, purity, destiny, divinity which represents god is an idol. An idol is an image or other material object representing a deity to which religious worship is addressed or any person or thing regarded with blind admiration, adoration, or devotion. Idols create a religious sentiment, which is either depicted by animals, human figures, gods, and goddess. Idols are worshipped, beloved, esteemed, spiritual, sacred, and righteous. Idols are viewed as a best option for giving requirements especially on periods. The beauty of offices or of homes could be more nourished as keeping of idols is intended to be a good start in terms of blessings from the god. Idols are regarded as an ultimate choice for gifting purposes especially on occasions. An idol is a representation of divinity, made usually of stone, wood, or metal which serves as a means through which a divinity may be worshiped. An idol is means of communication with the god. Idol represents purity, divinity, dedication, devotion, love, knowledge, meditation, tolerance, sacrifice, and most important is the worship. Idols rule as long as there is pride, greed, insecurity, and unhappiness. In positive aspect, it wipes out all negative energy from the soul at the time of worship..

There is a wide variety of idols which includes stone idols, wood idols, ashtadhatu idols, diamond idols, and brass idols etc., a wide variety of stone is used for making god and goddesses. Stone idols are worshipped in homes or at the temples to improve the aura and to invoke the supernatural blessings. Stone idols are washed with 'ganga jal' to symbolize the sign of purity and then 'abhishek' is performed which transforms the piece of stone into god. The following are the statuettes made up of stone idols; it represents lord shiva, lord vishnu, lord ganesha, and lord krishna. The wooden idols are extensively used for crafting beautiful idols of gods and goddesses. Wooden idols are very rarely used at temples, but are used as a decorative piece at homes and offices. They are ideal for gift items. The wooden idols are further classified in two types they are sandalwood and rosewood. Sandalwood is used for sacred idols and for prayer beads whereas rosewood reflects the elegance, beauty, and uniqueness in craftsmanship. It adds a spiritual value to the idols. Ashtadhatu idols is very sacred and made up of pure alloy of eight metals namely gold, silver, copper, zinc , lead, tin, mercury. It has a very high value in hinduism. Ashtadhatu idols are durable and last for years without decaying. Brass idol is an alloy made of copper and zinc and is extensively used for crafting hindu god and goddesses. Brass idols has an excellent look and make "brass" a unique material for making idols. They are often given a polish and are developed to prevent them from blackening in color. Diamond idols are made up of lots of diamonds and other metals.

Idol signifies worship. During the time of festivals like ganesh chaturthi, navratri, dasara etc., idols play a very important role in different religion, castes, customs and traditions. On rare occasions, idols themselves become historic and inspire their own historic events. An idol is a representation of history. Idols have represented different stories in the past. Stories about ramayana, mahabharata, krishna kanhaiya etc., are still fresh in our minds. An idol is a physical object of the god. The word idol derives from the greek word "eidololatria" means a figure or image for worship. As an idol represents different religion as well, in hinduism it is worshipped as "khuda" or "bhagwan". In muslim community it is worshipped as "allah" whereas in christianity it is worshipped as "amen" for the son of christ.

"charvak" an ancient indian philosopher quotes, "life is a journey of worship". To worship an idol is to remove all the negative energy from the earth, body, and soul. an idol remains an inspiration for all of us.