Toys vs Sacred Objects

When I looked at the Gamaya toy it got me thinking about the different ways in which we create and use images of the Gods.

The Gods in temples have been consecrated with sacred ceremonies but the ones that we have in our homes usually have not. A lot of times we have no information about how our murti were created or by whom.

I wondered how we distinguish between murti and toy. And then I had two thoughts. First I thought how we treat them distinguishes between them. But then I thought maybe we don’t need to distinguish at all. Part of the beauty of Hinduism is that there is not a hard line between what is sacred and what is mundane.

Everything is part of God so it makes sense to treat our toys as well as our murtis with respect.