Still, the Hindu murtis are not just statues. When an image is installed in a temple, the priest performs a special rite called prana pratishtha. Prana is life energy or breath. Pratishtha means "establish". During ceremony, the living deity is invited to enter the image, to take the statue as one of his or her bodies. The priest breathes onto the image, establishing living energy there, and the statue comes to life.
Once prana pratishtha has been accomplished, the image of the deity is no longer a pretty piece of furniture. From now on, until the life force is formally removed by a priest, the statue is considered as much alive as any other person in the room. Food is brought to the deity throughout the day. The deity is washed and dressed in clean clothes daily, and is fanned and presented with income and tasty desserts. It's treated as an honored guest. Devotees carefully watch what they say, even what they think, in the deity's presence, so as not to cause offense.
Visiting the deity's form in a temple or- as almost all Hindus do- keeping an image of the deity in their own home is a valuable way to practice the presence of God. But it's not just presented. What the statue is formally brought to life, a tiny fraction of the total awareness of the real deity actually takes up residence in a statue. A fraction of infinity is still infinity. So through the awakened image the devotee makes contact with the whole of divine being.
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