Murti: Sacred Images of the Deities
What a murti is, how Hindu sacred images are made and consecrated, how to read their symbols and gestures, and why Hindus worship God through images.
A murti is a sacred image of a Hindu deity, through which God is worshipped. Murtis stand at the heart of every Hindu temple and home shrine, and range from tiny brass figures to towering stone statues. For Hindus, a consecrated murti is not just a representation of God but a form in which God is truly present, making the infinite divine approachable, visible and close.
The Sanskrit word murti means “form”, “embodiment” or “manifestation”. Hindus generally prefer it to the English word “idol”, which suggests a false god.
Materials and making
Murtis are made of stone, metal (often bronze or an alloy of five metals called panchaloha), wood, clay or precious materials. Their proportions, postures and attributes are governed by traditional texts on art and architecture (shilpa shastras) and by the Agamas. Sculptors (shilpis) often belong to hereditary families and begin their work with prayer. The bronze images of south India, cast by the lost-wax method, include some of the world's greatest sculpture, such as the Chola-period figures of Shiva Nataraja.
Consecration: bringing the image to life
A newly made image becomes a murti through a consecration ceremony called prana pratishtha, “establishing the life-breath”. Priests perform rituals over several days, bathing the image in water, milk and other substances, and chanting mantras to invite the deity's presence. A key moment is the “opening of the eyes” (netronmilana), in which the eyes are painted or uncovered, after which the deity can see and be seen. From then on, the murti is treated as a living presence.
Caring for the deity
In temples, the murti receives daily service as an honoured guest or king: woken at dawn, bathed, dressed, adorned with flowers and jewels, offered food, entertained with music and lamps, and put to rest at night. See Puja. Large temples have a fixed main image (mula murti) and a smaller portable image (utsava murti) carried in festival processions.
Reading a murti
Murtis use a rich visual language:
- Multiple arms and heads express the deity's superhuman power and presence in all directions.
- Hand gestures (mudras): a raised open palm (abhaya) means “do not fear”; a downward open palm (varada) means granting blessings.
- Objects: weapons, lotuses, books and musical instruments show the deity's powers and roles.
- Vehicle (vahana): each deity has an animal companion, such as Ganesha's mouse or Durga's lion.
Natural and symbolic forms
Not all murtis are human-like. Shiva is most often worshipped as the lingam, an abstract form. Vishnu is worshipped in the shaligram, a black ammonite fossil from the Gandaki river in Nepal. Some images are believed to be self-manifested (svayambhu), appearing naturally rather than being made by human hands.
Why worship through images?
Hindu teachers explain image worship in several ways. Most humans find it hard to love or focus on something formless, so God, out of compassion, takes a form that devotees can see and serve. The philosopher Ramanuja taught that God has five forms, the last and most accessible of which is the archa, the consecrated image. Others compare the murti to a national flag or a photograph of a loved one, which is honoured for what it represents.
Not all Hindus accept image worship. The nineteenth-century Arya Samaj, for example, rejected it as not authorised by the Vedas. See Reform movements.
Sources and further reading
- Diana L. Eck, Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in India, 3rd edn (Columbia University Press, 1998).
- Richard H. Davis, Lives of Indian Images (Princeton University Press, 1997).
- Vidya Dehejia, The Thief Who Stole My Heart: The Material Life of Sacred Bronzes from Chola India (Princeton University Press, 2021).