Murti

Murti (Sanskrit: मूर्ति) means form, embodiment, image, or manifestation, from the root mur[1]. In religious usage it names a consecrated image or form through which a deity is approached in worship[2]. The English term idol is often used to translate murti but carries Western Protestant baggage that does not fit the Hindu theological framework.

outsiders sometimes reduce murti to idol, but practitioners usually understand the image within a more complex theology of presence.

A murti is not understood by Hindu worshippers as a piece of stone or metal that has been mistakenly worshipped[2]. After proper consecration (prana pratishtha, the establishment of breath or life-force), the murti is treated as a presence of the deity, a focus through which devotion is offered and blessing received[2]. The image's eyes are typically opened in a specific ritual, and the deity is then considered to dwell in the form.

Murtis vary enormously. Temple murtis range from small, hidden inner-sanctum images approached by trained priests to massive public icons[3]. Home murtis are typically smaller, kept in dedicated shrine spaces or shelves and offered daily worship. Festival murtis (such as Ganesh Chaturthi clay images or Durga Puja installations) are sometimes immersed in water at the conclusion of the festival, returning the divine presence to its source.

Different Hindu traditions hold different theologies of the murti. Saguna traditions (with attributes) emphasize the murti as a real presence of the deity. Nirguna traditions (without attributes) may see the murti more as a focusing aid for devotion that ultimately points beyond all forms[2]. Many Hindus hold both views together: God is beyond form, and yet present in form for the sake of devotion.

Buddhist and Jain traditions also use sacred images, with their own theologies of the relationship between image and presence.

Comparative religion and art history have produced significant scholarship on sacred images. Hans Belting's Likeness and Presence, while focused on Christian images, has parallels for Hindu studies. Diana Eck and others have written specifically on the Hindu murti[2]. The polemics around idol worship from the Protestant Reformation onward shaped Western reception of Hindu image-based devotion in ways that careful scholarship continues to correct.

• Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in Indiaby Diana L. Eck
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• Gods of Flesh, Gods of Stoneby Joanne Punzo Waghorne (editor)
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