nirmal...

Of course it is right and not sheer foolishness. Human mind being attuned to forms finds it easy to worship a form and that is how idols have come about. Have not the foremost Bhaktas the Aazhwaars and then the Naayanmaars and innumerable other Bhaktas worshipped idols? Mahashay ['M' the famous author of 'Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna]was, in his intial days, pulled up by Sri Ramakrishna when he nurtured doubts about idol worship. Sri Ramakrishna said to him, 'Does not God exist in everything? Then would not the Lord understand that it is verily HIM that the man worships through idol worship?

K.N...

radhe krishna...
a person tells that "it is lord krishna" or "it is lord rama' only by seeing its structure ie., the shape of the idol...when a god's idol is being kept in a temple, before that various pujas are being performed for that statue to get its power...the people who make that idol,after it being kept in the temple, they come and worship...why? because it did not have any power when it was a statue. but after pujas it has attained its power...thus according to me it is sheer foolishness to tell not to perform an idol worship.

S V Swami...

Everyone cannot concentrate and meditate on a formless God and hence various forms have been given to God. As a person grows in spiritual prowess, the form may not be necessary.It is quite all right to perform idol worship.

vigne...

a person's taste is not fixed or the same for everyone.it differs.when a person says idol worship is not true as god is omniscient then why should"nt god be in an idol? so it depends.

R. Kalya...

It is right to perform Idol Worship. The foremost of the devotees of the Lord are the Aazhvaars. Their name AAZHVAAR itself has been derived from the fact that their bakthi was so deep. All these great devotees of lord lost their mind in total devotion and love for the idols (Archavatharam) in various shrines. From their songs it is clear that they had various interesting experiences with these idols. It is even incorrect to say that the form of Lord we see in temples as idols. It is the form taken out of mercy for the human beings by God himself to somehow make himself visible to and grace the humans involved in mundane activities. As the involvement of one with any particular deity increases, he will no longer see that the idol is any thing manmade and he will start feeling the presence of the deity and the grace flowing on him. Saint Ramakrishna Paramahamsa showed to his devotees by placing a cotton thread near the nose hole of Goddess Bhavadharini that how She actually was breathing while remaining in her form. Hence Vaishnavaites call them as Archavatharam (the descended form of Lord) or Thirumeni (the sacred form) of lord. Are we not inclined to treat with respect the photos or statues of our parents or near and dear? We very well know that these persons are not going to last for long or they are very much have the ordinary human tendencies of love and hatred, likes and dislikes, anger, jealousy etc but yet we respect their images just because we think they are close to us and this being the case how can one term as foolish the worshipping of God who is the closest to anyone in the form of idols and who is untouched by these lowly tendencies?. Certain things in life can only be known better by individual experience and the whole words contained in any of the noblest languages of the earth are surely inadequate in explaining even a little bit of what is gained through experience. Idol worship is one such thing which cannot be expressed by words and all one can say is IF YOU WANT TO ABOUT IT, TASTE IT.

Geeth...

Yes, in my opinion,it is very much right to perform Idol Worship. Though this Jagat is the manifestation of Isvara, it is very difficult for a normal, simple human being to see the Jagat - the world as God. to be more precise it is very difficult for us to have Viswa roopa darshana as suggested by the 11th Chapter of Bhagavad Gita. In order to have our mind set, focussed on Isvara it is better to have a form for the Isvara the form which we like, Hence in my opinion it is right to perform Idol Worship.
Radhe krishna

Sures...

Yes.Surely , it is the best and primary method of Worship that helps the Sadhaka to attain his deity, which is nothing but the Nirguna Brahmam.

For example any person who wants to become a Engineer or doctor has to first start from Kinder garden only. It is impossible for a child to become a doctor but after going through various levels of education it becomes qualified for the course.
Likewise a sadhaka has to start from Idol Worship and slowly and gradually mature in his effort. It is difficult to explain to a child about Nirguna Brahmam but it is always easy to explain to him about "the blue colored krishna" his mesmerising looks and his kripa.
 
In fact without this idol worship our sanatana dharma would have not flourished so well. Only after idolising god we had the bhagyam of seeing so many Azhwars and nayanmars. All the Bhakthi Padalgal(songs) which came from their mouths are still reverberating in this world spreading bhakthi, jnana and vairagyam.
 

Without Uruva vazhiapa(idol worship)there would be no rasa in attaining god. All the yogis and followers of other systems like ashtanga yoga, Kundalini etc; strain themselves in achieving the Nirguna Brahmam but a Bhaktha who sees the same Nirguna Brahmam in the idol(later due to god's grace sees god in everywhere)just enjoys his life by spending his time in nama sankirtanam and Katha Sravanam.
Foolishness would be leaving aside such a Raja Maragam(great way) like idol worship, which involves nama sankirtanam and going through Karma Yoga or Gnana yoga. In both karma yoga and Gnana yoga the sadhaka has more chance of failure because god's prakriti is very powerful and will not easily allow the sadhaka to reach the absolute.
The advantage is Bhakthi yoga is even if the sadhaka is a ajnani, he attains vaikunta because the god himself takes the responsibility of his bhaktha. As the lord says "Aham Smarami madbhakatam nayami Paramam gathim".
What more can we expect from a Sadhana? In fact i would say Idol worship is the easiest and best way to attain god in Kali yuga.

Balu...

Its one of the accepted, best forms of Worship as per Hindu Religion. It works perfectly during initial periods and stages of understanding God, esp., during childhoods, and also when one in unable to concentrate/meditate upto the level, continuously to the desired extent.

R...

God is in everything. So The God is present even in the idol.

Kaver...

We worship God in various forms. We relate ourselves to God as mother, friend, partner and express our love and gratitude to Him. So if we have Idol worship it is easy for us to pray and slowly when we practice automatically even without idol worship we can pray. So idol worship is the beginning and we will not be idle.

CV. R...

Idol worship is necessary. Because it gives a visual representation of the form of the deity that one worships. otherwise how will people know how their deity would look like?
If we had not seen Sri Rama or Krishnaji\'s Idol we need to imagine the form whenever we hear stories of them and since we are caught up in many worldly things how long will such form stay in our minds. Other than that People would start assuming the form based on their mindset just like the three blind man touching an elephant and assuming things of their own. By idol worship one can see the god\'s form how many ever times, touch the god and can capture the form in their mind and keep meditating till he/ she realizes their desired god. All these practices are in place to enable even a layman realize god. /p>
 

Soorya..

It is our attitude that counts. The form of the idol is to help us focus our mind and it becomes the object of our meditation. In the end we realise that all forms are his. Worshiping it in the traditional way is to show our love and devotion to god which is very personal. However if we treat god as the statue and forget that god is in the form of the atma/soul in all creation and not love, serve and respect one another then it is sheer foolishness.

gang...

YES ITS RIGHT TO PERFORM IDOL WORSHIP.IN THE FORM OF IDOL GOD RESIDES AS FAMILY MEMBER. WE HUMAN BEING HANG PHOTOS OF OUR PARENTS,FAMILY,FRIENDS AND CHERISH ON SEEING IT.LIKEWISE OUR MIND REQUIRES A FORM TO ADMIRE & CHERISH

Balasub..

It is essential to perform idol worship and continue with it until an automatic urge develops to search for the God within. The urge can come about only by the anugraha of the very idol. (A faster way to achieve the urge is through incessant chanting of the Mahamantra with or without the idol worship)

anonymous

Idol worship is right to be performed as one thinks Lord is present in the Idol.Idol or Archavathara of The Lord are His way showering grace on mundane human beings by being present amongst us and also anyone who is not performing any dhyana or japa and leading a worldly life can also see this form of the Lord.It is by frequently seeing this form of the Lord that one gets to have more affinity towards the Lord and then start meditating upon THIS form even when he/she is physically away from It.One can shower all love in different forms of poojas and express ones love physically by bathing and dressing up the idol and offering food to the Idol being worshiped which also increases one\'s love and Bhakthi to the Lord and automatically brings in His grace.
So idol worship is definitely one of the most easiest and understandable way towards spiritual progress and journey towards attaining the Lord.

sundaram...

Yes,it is right to perform idol worship.It inculcates purity of mind,discipline days\' activities,prepares the mind for meditatation.It promotes bhakthi,where bhaktha can express his desires & enjoy life.Fools will describe idol worship as foolishness.

LAKSHMI NA..

When We born, we doesnt know what we are. After sometime, we know our mother first, then father, relatives etc.,. This is the routine for every and any (human) being. This we know as loukikam. For Aanmikam, we have to start with Idol worship, which is the first step we have to make to reach the almighty. Beware, that is not the final step. A child starts with MAATHAA, then PITHAA, GURU and THEIVAM(ALMIGHTY). Maathaa is the 1st step. Maathaa shows, Pithaa the 2nd step. Pithaa finds Guru the 3rd step. Guru only can show us the Almighty, the Theivam. In bakthi yoga there are nine steps to reach the almighty, viz, SRAVANAM, KEERTHANAM, SMARANAM, PAATHASEVANAM, ARCHANAM, VANTHANAM, THAASHYAM, SAKYAM and AATHMA NIVETHANAM. In GNANA Yoga, we have PRATHYAAHAARAM, DHAARANAI, and DHYAANAM are the steps. To attain(join with - SAAYUJYAM) the Almighty, there are four levels viz., SAALOKYAM, SAAMEEPYAM, SAAROOPYAM and SAAYUJYAM). Whatever the steps stated is the regular routines to attain Almighty. Remember, TONS AND TONS OF KNOWLEDGE WILL NOT BE AN OUNCE OF PRACTICE.

sathyan...

A person constructs a house. Its his own and he loves it. He has taken the same care in designing and building every part of it. He can verily cook in the entrance, eat in the bathroom and sleep in the verandah. Does he? A person prefers certain activities in certain areas even in his own house as a matter of maximum convenience, preference and effectiveness.
Similarly even if omnipresent God himself has chosen to take forms for him to be worshipped by us. All this out of sheer compassion and love for us all, to enable us to enjoy the bliss he is in various forms and ways.

kamal...

Even after looking at the neelamegha shyamala roopam, will one would dare ask this question. From the point of view of vedanta,( I am not one who has gone anywhere near scriptures but still..) all our prayers and offerings - if focussed on something that we really believe to exist then they will have some meaning. Lord Krishna also has fallen for this prema bhakthi only and not for the advaita bhakthi. Just mere thinking of a sweet will not make you know the taste of a sweet but you must see it and taste it to enjoy it fully.