What is the significance of idol worship? Not that of fan-based idols and stars but of bringing the energies into either a stone, granite, metal, or wood. Our ancestors have been doing it for ages now. We have continued these traditions. Many temples and the statue in them stand witness to the bygone eras of temple worship that beats our imagination. These days devotees trickle in numbers except for some auspicious occasions where we see the numbers.
My brother, A.Kathiresan who is a journalist, in releasing a book entitled "Image Worship" in the series of books called "The Wisdom Library" put forth an argument that "Surely the Hindu sages, who gave the world the highest philosophy and who had actually seen God, had a sound reason for introducing this practice? when confronted with the fact that "image worship was being maligned by a few Hindus and many non-Hindu missionaries who wanted to convert Hindus decrying Hinduism." His book is in the form of a conversation between the guru and his disciple where the guru tries to answer and clarify the questions and doubts his disciple has.
The guru explains that "since not everyone is able to understand Hindu philosophy our sages devised several ways of bringing the philosophy closer to the ordinary man to help him understand this most ancient science better. The various Purnic stories and image worship are two of these ways."
Idol or image worship would not be an accurate translation of the Hindu term Vigraha or Moothi the guru says. Vigraha means to grasp firmly while Moorthi means materialization. Vigraha is a symbolic representation that helps the mind to grasp firmly the abstract idea of god. Through generations of practice, our rituals have become part of our group consciousness. we can therefore glide into the appropriate mental mood easily. This is one reason why image worship is so maligned by outsiders. It is difficult for them to enter the proper mental climate to be able to understand the practice, explains the guru further. "And it is human nature to be antagonistic towards what we cannot understand or at the very least to be suspicious of it."
"Hindus actually worship god in and through images. The images and Vigrahas are symbols that speak at different levels to the discerning and intelligent devotee. Also, they were so designed as to be to the point and effective. These Hindu symbols were and still are concise and precise and have the ability to generate tremendous power under the right conditions."
This reminds me of the day Agathiyar arrived in the form of a bronze statue at my home in 2010. We had invited a handful of family and friends to join us in ushering him. Agathiyar had directed me to have his Moorthi done at Swamimalai, Tamilnadu to strict conditions laid out in the Nadi. We were asked to give "life" to the otherwise lifeless metal by chanting his name 100,000 times while performing libation or abhishegam with nine items. Our throat was parched dry and we could not utter further his name. We could only manage 45,000 with the small group on hand. Though we could not achieve the said number Agathiyar came in a Nadi reading that week and told us that he had accepted our puja. Recently in coming to my daughter's home to stay for good, he spared us the agony of chanting large numbers but instead asked us to chant his name some 1,000 times. She had already received two large paintings of the Agathiyar and Lobamitra and another of the Siddhas that was kept in puja at the Eco City temple that happened to be her wedding gift too in 2016. Just some days ago in wanting to gift another devotee a miniature bronze statue of his, he did the libation himself and handed it over to her to continue at her home. Just like life's breath is blown into the fetus just before its existence in this world, this is how life is infused into an otherwise lifeless statue.
Once energized the statue regains a stand as God who fulfills the wishes of those who seek him out. The statue becomes a conduit to reach out to the invisible energies of the Prapanjam. The Prapanjam has now taken a form just like all that is in nature and creation. With constant puja, the statue gains powers to heal and cure and fulfill wishes. It gains weight. Yes, it is true. All the rituals, puja, and devotion towards it is absorbed by the statue and it gains weight when the divine comes within it. When AVM family members got into place to ceremoniously carry Agathiyar around the Mayuranathar Temple grounds in Dengkil on a Pallakku, or litter, the throne-like chair, with two long poles underneath the chair, initially these youths stood unassuming, cool, and calm. But as I sang the song inviting Agathiyar to grace the Siddhar Vizha we held there, these boys began to feel his weight. We could see that the four litter bearers were finding it difficult to continue carrying Agathiyar as he was gaining weight. They all attested to this unique phenomenon that took place that day that we were all witness to.
Similarly, when Dyalen volunteered to carry AVM Agathiyar from my car to the home of a devotee on the eighth floor of a condominium, he quipped that Agathiyar was light. After the puja was over he volunteered to bring his statue down. He turned to me and said, "My God he is heavy!"
A story is narrated in http://www.yourgoodtime.in/TemplesAndScience.aspx of the Nachiyar Temple, Narayur Nambi Perumal Temple in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, India, of how energized our temples are. The Garuda, the vehicle or Vahana of Lord Vishnu near the inner sanctum sanctorum at this temple, made of a huge granite stone 6 feet in height, was brought out during the annual Brahmotsavam festival. The miracle in this whole event is that if only two people are required to lift the Garuda in the confines of this temple, as many as 64 people were required to carry it eventually at the peak of the occasion. It is very obvious that its weight kept on increasing as it made its way around the temple grounds. On returning it to its original spot the weight began to decrease requiring only the original two to carry it.
We are all well aware of the episode about how Agathiyar had instructed Idumban to carry the Sivagiri and Saktigiri hills to the south. Idumban carried the hills easily, slung across his shoulders. Soon he needed to rest and lay the hills down. On recovering from his exhaustion he found that he could not lift nor move the hills.
Then there was a time when Ma told me to carry out libation with water daily to his statue as he had gained intense power and energy. It was time to cool him down I guess. Recently Agathiyar asked me to bathe his statue with water till he leaves AVM for Mahindren's home to stay put. This reminds me of news that is yet to be verified of the Goddess Meenatchi in her famed temple coming in the dreams of devotees asking to cool her down. The subsequent fire that broke out could have been a result of ignoring these signs. Pardon me if I am wrong. It brings tears to our eyes to read about the fire and see the photos at https://scroll.in/article/867574/fire-in-madurais-meenakshi-temple-sparks-demand-for-shops-to-be-evicted-from-complex
The guru continues, "To the Hindu, his house of worship the Hindu temple mirrors the entire universe and the human body and life. Hindu philosophy is coded into its very structure in its internal symbols and the ceremonies performed."
"Our sages say every object in the world animate or inanimate is a manifestation of the one god. The realization of and experience of this fundamental truth is the goal of the life of the Hindu. Hinduism does not present a fixed dogma or path and calls on all its followers to take that path alone. Rather, it offers various paths which they can take to reach the same goal. Techniques combining science and faith have evolved to help the aspirant move along the path of his choice."
"In the transcendent state, Siva is beyond the reach of the senses, the mind, and the intellect. This is its natural form. But Siva also assumes forms, qualities, and characteristics", hence explaining how god is both with attributes and without. The Hindus believe that god is both formless and with form. And that he transcends both."
Recently I had built some courage to ask Agathiyar where he was, where Tavayogi was, and where Lord Siva and Lord Muruga were too. Agathiyar who had come within a devotee placed his palm on my chest. I understood that he was living in my heart and in me. I told him so to get reassurance and confirmation. He nodded when I continued that god manifests wherever we place our thoughts about him, be it at the temple or home altar, a picture or stone, or in someone else. God lives in our thoughts. Devotion, puja, and rituals are akin to feeding these divine thoughts. To someone else who asked to know his true form some time back, he asked her a question in return. "What do you get when you do puja and charity?" She replied "A feel-good feeling." "That is me" he replied. He continued that he was the very vibration that is felt bringing us to add on another form to his numerous other forms that we came to know earlier. Through our parents, we came to know god with form as in the paintings and idols. Through the priest and saints, we came to know their attributes as songs are sung to describe them. Dr.Krishnan, an astrologer and Siddha physician, passed me a copper foil or yantra carrying Agathiyar's form as an abstract symbol to be worshipped when I told him that Agathiyar had called me to the path. Later he spoke his mantra into my ears over the phone as I was conducting a Homam at home. Now he took on the form of sound. Tavayogi in introducing us to Agathiyar officially through an initiation told us that he was the very mantra given. He was in the form of sound. Later when I asked him how Agathiyar came to him the night I arrived at his ashram in 2005, he told me as light. Agathiyar took the form of light. In having the statues of Lord Muruga and Agathiyar made in fiber and placed at his ashram in 2010, the same year Agathiyar came in the form of a statue to my home, Tavayogi gave these gods attributes and form saying these were a depiction of their forms as described by other Siddhas in the Siddha text. Later when I and my family visited him in 2013, as we came down the steps of Nattadreswar temple in Erode, he turned to me and said that Agathiyar was Siva and vice versa giving them the common attributes. This would explain why Lord Siva chose to send Agathiyar south to bring a balance to the earth that had toppled as the heavenly beings descended to witness the betrothal of Lord Siva to Goddess Parvathi in the north. Agathiyar was equivalent to all the Gods and Goddesses assembled at Mount Kailash.
Our saints have dwelled in and sung about the attributes of god with form. They have given precise descriptions through their visions that have been carved into stone and are worshiped by us today.
It would surprise us to know that Swami Vivekananda being a monk on the path of Gnanam has spoken about idol worship which is said to be a starter course for many higher levels. Picking up from his guru, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, who describes, "God with form is just as true as God without form. He is also that which transcends both. He alone knows he is", he tackled the question about image worship as follows.
The guru shares this story.
"During the days of his wandering through India, Swami Vivekananda went to the state of Alwar. The then Maharaja was a young modern educated man. He told Swami Vivekananda "I have no faith in idol worship. I cannot really worship wood, earth, or stone as other people do."
Swami Vivekananda replied, "Every man should follow his religious ideal according to his faith." Having said that looking around Swami Vivekananda spotted a picture of the Maharaja on the wall. Taking it down he asked the royal court to spit on it. They were shocked at his requests. Swami Vivekananda said, "Spit upon it. It is but only a portrait." The bewildered courtiers replied, "What are you asking us to do? This is the likeness of our Maharaja. How could we do such a thing?" Then turning to the Maharaja, Swami Vivekananda said, "That is the shadow of your highness which brings you to their minds and they naturally look upon it with respect. In the same way, an image in a temple brings to the mind of the devotees their chosen aspect of the deity. They worship the spirit symbolized by the image." The Maharaja understood and said, "You have opened my eyes."
Swami Vivekananda clarifies what Agathiyar instructed me to do upon his arrival. He asked that we give life to that metal statue of his.
"We may worship anything by seeing god in it, if we can forget the idol and see god there. We must not project any image upon god but we may fill any image with that life which is god."
A monk of a divine order having its origin in Rishikesh, who was based in Malaysia surprised us by asking Malaysian to build temples as it was our identity. Both language and customs identify us. These are much needed by common folks like us. But Ramalinga Adigal who had attained a high standing in the order sings that the day he dropped arguing on caste and agamas, he saw the Light.
Agathiyar has often told us that he was in the Prapanjam and that the Prapanjam was in him and that he was it. Ramalinga Adigal in asking me to go within said that a time will come when we shall tend to ask if the breath is in us or if we are in it. This reminds me of yet another form that Tavayogi gave to Agathiyar. During my second or rather third initiation in private upon arriving at his Kallar ashram he told me that Vaasi or breath was god. SiVa if spelled VaSi is breath indeed.
The guru in dispelling further doubts quotes Swami Vivekananda again. "The divinity of the all-pervading god is vibrant in every atom of creation. There is not a speck of space where he is not. Why do you then say that he is not in the Vigraha?"