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murti

Glossary · Sanskrit

मूर्ति

Form; embodiment.

Tagged: Hindu

Technical Meaning

A consecrated image of a Hindu deity, in stone, metal, wood, or clay. After the prana pratishtha rite installs the deity's presence, the murti is not a symbol standing for the god; the god is present in it and receives worship through it, with bathing, clothing, food, and lamps. A temple may hold one central murti and many subsidiary ones, and a festival murti may be carried in procession and, in some festivals, immersed at the rite's end.

More Sanskrit Terms

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Religious Art & Images

A stone Shiva linga on its round yoni base inside a small temple shrine, scattered with flower petals and pigment, a drip vessel hanging above. Art Entry The Shiva Linga A polished stone shaft rising from its base, bathed daily in water, milk, and flowers: the aniconic murti of Shiva, worshipped not as a symbol of an absent god but as the god's own form. A colossal seated Ganesh idol crowned and garlanded on a golden pandal throne, devotees crowding forward with phones raised during the Mumbai festival. Art Entry The Ganesh Chaturthi Murti A clay Ganesh, modeled and painted by neighborhood artisans, worshipped in streets and homes for up to eleven days, then carried in procession and immersed: the murti as a guest who is honored and bid farewell.

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