I have a question, and I feel somewhat uncomfortable asking it. I see the deities on the altar at the temple, and they are so beautiful, and so beautifully dressed, with beautiful jewelry and decorations. One outfit more exquisite than the next... I don't even know how to ask this...why is anything other than natural stones and natural fabrics used? When making or choosing clothing for our deities at home, are we to consider what would be the comfort of the fabric, in our estimation? For example, synthetic trims are scratchy and rough to the touch. Are deities disturbed by this aspect, or weighty, heavy garments?
A dress given to them from
A dress given to them from what you felt is most loving from yourself - that is, it could be as simple as one cloth wrapped around the image - is more loved and adored than something you spent your life savings and had custom manufactured to prove a point.
Don't think that dressing a deity more extravagantly gets you loved more by the deity. As long as YOU dress them, and love how YOU dress them, by giving all the love from your heart to them as you dress, then they will love it as well. They search for honesty and love, not how shimmering or expensive their clothes are. It's not an insult to them in being simply dressed.
Stop thinking of the deities as deities, and learn to love them as family - as brother, sister, friend, father/mother, whatever is most comfortable to you.
Hare Krishna, actually the
Hare Krishna, actually the process of deity worship is start with mood and worship of Lakshmi Narayana. Which means that we dress and worship them with great reverence like serving a king. When a devotion become more mature then our relationship can be more informal.
Srila Prabhupada writes Madhusudana in January 24th 1969 Los Angeles
I'm too concerned.......
Radhe Radhe !
I'm too concerned of such feeling,we should always b cautious of it.Deities dresses should b prepared with enormous "Shraddha".Proper & Deep thought should be given for selecting the fabric viz:pure materials like cotton,silks,satins,chiffons considering the weather of the area.Work on the dresses should be mild enough & light weight.It should be hand stiched with "Seva-Bhav".While making Robes & woollens,we should be genourous enough;woollens always tend to be heavy,we should select lightweight woollens with least blend of other synthetic materials.
All in all, we should consider deities " more than ourselves"
Please don't hesitate to correct me if I'm wrong anywhere.I'll be highly obliged !