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You wrote:
> There are times, for example when the "sannidhi" (inner sanctum) of the
> deity in the temple is to be cleaned, when the "power" in the idol (ie, the
> deity who has graciously consented to be present in the idol) is "transferred"
> elsewhere. During this period of time, the deity is *absent* in the idol in the
> sannidhi. The idol is no longer "holy." After the acts/rituals pertaining to
> the cleaning ceremony has taken place, the deity is again invoked into the idol
> and the idol becomes sanctified again. These are the ceremonies that took place
> in a Shiva temple in Madras. I can provide some more details regarding the
> ceremony if you so like.
Yes, this is true of some idols. I believe this is only true of
those images that have been consecrated manually, either by
humans, or which are believed to be consecrated by devas, etc.
There is no consecration ever required for, say, Lord Srinivasa
at Tirupati, because He is svayam-vyakta, self-manifested. There
may be purification rituals, but that does not imbue the image
itself with sanctity.
I suppose the central question is still this: after invocation,
is the idol considered any less God than the God within the self?
I think not. Even otherwise, from a popular perspective, putting
all scholastic arguments aside, it is indisputable that nearly
all temple-goers attend kOvils with the idea that God is
manfesting Himself there to grace His devotees. Without this
belief, the temple utsavams, offerings, and prasAdam all lose
their intimacy and hence their meaning.
> But I have heard this [perhaps in the Srimad Bhagavatam, must check this up],
> "O lord, thou art omnipresent! Forgive me for seeking you only in
> pilgrimage spots!"
Please do check this -- I don't think it is from the Bhagavatam,
and such statements are easily quoted out of context. I doubt if
the statement at all meant to denigrate temple worship.
I can speak with 100% certainty of Vaishnava temple worship, as
practiced in Tirupati, Srirangam, and elsewhere, and reasonable
certainty about Saiva and Sakta worship. Seeing a difference
between the idol and God, i.e., thinking that the idol is merely
a physical substance, is completly anathema to popular and
orthodox worship patterns.
Now, when it comes to the belief systems of the modern,
English-speaking, alienated Hindu, such as those who regularly
frequent SRH and quote isolated phrases from the Upanishads and
the Gita with gay abandon -- well then, all bets are off.
Mani
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