Temple Gods are non-Vedic Gods are not Vedic God. Vedic God is Atman. Atman is God in truth.+.

God does not reside in the temples. Temple Gods are non-Vedic Gods and are not Vedic God. Vedic God is Atman. Atman is God in truth. Atman God is hidden by the universe because the universe is an illusion created out of the Atman, the God. 

Worship of non-~Vedic Gods, idol worship, and temple worships introduced many centuries later is not of Vedic origin.

Max Müller says: ~ “The religion of the Veda knows no idols; the worship of idols in India is a secondary formation, a degradation of the more primitive worship of ideal Gods."

Hinduism is not a religion but more a way of life. The term "Hinduism" is used for labeling the entire Indian people.

Hinduism indulges non-Vedic beliefs such as idolatry, ancestor worship, pilgrimages, priestcraft, offerings made in temples, the caste system, untouchability, and child marriages. All these lack Vedic sanctions, therefore, Hinduism is not Ancient Vedic religion or Santana Dharma.

All Hindus indulge in non-Vedic practices barred by the Vedas introduced by the different founders of the different sects of Hinduism at different times, whereas the Vedic religion, or Santana Dharma is ancient and has no founder.

Hinduism is not Santana Dharma or Vedic religion.  Hinduism is not a religion. Rather it is a group of religions found within India that share common beliefs while still remaining very different.

The ancient peoples of India belong to the Vedic religion or Santana Dharma, therefore, they have nothing to do with present-day Hinduism. The ancient peoples of the Indus Valley of Undivided India were called Hindus by Muslim invaders. 

Hindu idols or deities or temples are nothing to do with the Vedic religion or Santana Dharma.  Vedic people ate beef.  The Hindu practices of idol worship, temple worship, and a ban on beef eating were introduced many centuries later.

As one peeps into the annals of religious history he finds that Hinduism which exists today is not a continuation of the Vedic religion, and it has no real historical foundation.  Hinduism is of a much later origin.

As per the researchers, the two faiths the Hindu belief system has drifted miles away from the Vedic faith so the two seem to be two distinct faiths. It is not difficult to discover that there is no noticeable continuity of Hinduism from the Vedic religion or Santana Dharma.

The distinctive characteristics of the Hindu belief system cannot be traced in the Vedic literature. Besides, although the Vedas are revered as sacred texts, there are many people in India who do not know what ‘belief in the Vedas’ means. In most cases, the acquaintance of the Hindus with the Vedas is limited to the few hymns that are recited in temples and household liturgies.

Max Müller says: ~ “The religion of the Veda knows no idols; the worship of idols in India is a secondary formation, a degradation of the more primitive worship of ideal Gods."

Hindus are idol worshipers of a  large number of Gods and Goddesses whereas Vedas declare  God is ‘ONE’ and that God is Atman.

In Vedas, God has been described as: ~

Yajur Veda – chapter- 32: - God is  Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. He cannot be seen directly by anyone. He pervades all beings and all directions. Thus,   Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

Yajurveda: ~ There is no image of God in truth. God in truth is unborn and eternal. (Chapter 32, Verse 3)

Yajurveda: ~ God in truth is nondual and pure"

Thus, Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

Rig Veda: ~ 'Prajnanam Brahma'- Consciousness is the ultimate reality or Brahman or God in truth.

God in truth is the Atman, the Self. Atman is present in the form of consciousness.

Do not accept any other God other than Atman not worship other than Atman.

Let these words be inscribed in your subconscious.

Nothing is real but God. Nothing Matters but love for God in truth. God in truth is everywhere and in everything.

God in truth is hidden by the illusory universe. God in truth alone is and all else is an illusion.

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe. May ye never turn away from the Atman the innermost Self. May ye never accept another God in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

Rig-Veda 1-164-46 and Y.V 32-1 clearly mention that God is “One”.

Rig Veda declares God is ‘ONE’ and that God is Atman, then why believe and worship anything else in place of the real God.

Thus, Atman the innermost Self is God. Thus, Self-realization itself is real worship.    Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is necessary to get realization.

To acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, the seeker has to realize his inherited religion is adulterated in the past and it becomes a great obstacle is realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman.    

The seeker's aim is the search for the Ultimate Truth or Brahman.  The search to find the non-dualistic or Advaitic truth that in actuality never was lost, only hidden.

The nature of God the Spirit or Atman is: ~

           v Sakshi (Witness)

           v Chetan (conscious)

           v Nirguna (Without form and properties).

           v Nitya (eternal)

           v Shuddha (pure)

           v Buddha (omniscient)

           v   Mukta (unattached).

The nature of the Atman (Soul) is:-     

         v Witness

         v Conscious

         v Without form and properties

         v Eternal

         v Pure

         v Omniscient

         v Unattached

Thus, it refers to a formless and attributeless God, which is the Atman (Soul), the innermost Self within the false experience. Thus it indicates clearly all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imaginations based on the false Self.  Thus Atman or Soul, the Self,  is God in truth.

The Vedas do not talk about idol worship. In fact, till about 2000 years ago followers of Vedism never worshiped idols. Idol worship was started by the followers of Buddhism and Jains.  There is logic to idol worship. Vedas speak of one God that is the supreme ‘Self’ i.e. Atman or Soul but Hinduism indulges in worshiping 60 million Gods.

It indicates clearly all Gods with forms and attributes are mere imaginations based on the false Self.

The Vedas as a body of scripture contains many contradictions and they are fragmentary in nature. For Hindus, scriptures like the Bhagavad-Gita, Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Puranas are more attractive and appealing than the Vedas. And also the Gods and Goddesses they worship differ considerably from the Vedic ones. The collection of hymns called Vedas are written in praise of certain deities by poets over several centuries does not seem to have much significance for the Hindus.

Prohibition of idol worship in Yajurveda: ~

Yajur Veda says:~

Translation 1

They enter darkness, those who worship natural things (for example air, water, sun, moon, animals, fire, stone, etc).

They sink deeper in darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol, etc.) (Yajurveda 40:9)

Translation 2

Deep into the shade of blinding gloom fall asambhuti's worshippers. They sink to darkness deeper yet who on sambhuti are intent." (Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Giffith pg 538)

Translation 3

"They are enveloped in darkness, in other words, are steeped in ignorance and sunk in the greatest depths of misery who worship the uncreated, eternal prakrti -- the material cause of the world -- in place of the All-pervading God, But those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like) in place of God  are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time." (Yajur Veda 40:9.)

So, Yajur Veda indicates that: ~

They sink deeper in darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol, etc. (Yajurveda 40:9)

Those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, and bodies (human and the like) in place of God  are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time." (Yajur Veda 40:9.)

Upanishad aspiration is best expressed in the following sutra:~

OM Asato ma sad gaMaya , tamaso ma jyotir gaMaya , mrityor ma aamritaam gaMaya . Shanti, Shanti, Shanti

"OM Lead me from ignorance to truth, from darkness to light, from death to immortality. Peace, Peace, Peace" (Brhadaranyaka Upanishad (1/3/28)).

The belief system was coherent because they had a transcendent individualized God as a central doctrine, whereas in the realm of truth individualized God cannot be considered as the center because the Soul and the innermost Self is the center of all that exists.

First, one should not hold a God as the center of existence without verification. Both the theist and atheist theories are nothing to do with ultimate truth or Brahman.:~Santthosh Kumaar