Cult image

Human-made object that is venerated for the deity, person, or spirit that it represents 6th-century stone murti of the Hindu god Shiva In the practice of religion, a cult image is a human-made object that is venerated or worshipped for the person, deity, spirit, or daemon that it embodies or represents. In several traditions, including the ancient religions of Egypt, Greece, Rome and India, cult images in a temple may undergo a daily routine of being washed, dressed, and having food left for them. Processions outside the temple on special feast days are often a feature. Religious images cover a wider range of all types of images made with a religious purpose, subject, or connection. In many contexts "cult image" specifically means the most important image in a temple, kept in an inner space, as opposed to what may be many other images decorating the temple. Prehistoric civilizations The earliest so-called Venus figurines have been dated to the prehistoric Upper Paleolithic era (35–40 ka onwards). Archaeological evidence from the islands of the Aegean Sea have yielded Neolithic era Cycladic figures from 4th and 3rd millennium BC, idols in namaste [which?] posture from Indus Valley