you should be aware that there are hindu scriptures called Agamas. By http://www.srivaishnavan.com/ans_vedas.html#39 Quote:39.

The Agamas accept the authority of Vedas. The Agamas prescribe idol wor ship in the place of rituals like Yagas, mentioned in the Vedas. They prescribed the methods of idol worship. 40.The Agamas are predominantly divided into Saiva, Sakta and Vaishnava Agamas. Agamas mainly talk about construction of temples; the rules for installation and consecration of the deities in the temples; and the methods of performing pujas in the temples. Now I will quote some chapters from the book Dancing with Siva, Hinduism's Conte mporary Catechism by by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001). By http://www.himalayanacademy.com/reso...andala-26.html Quote:What Is the Nature of the Holy Agamas? SLOKA 129 The Agamas, Sanatana Dharma's second authority, are revelations on sacred living , worship, yoga and philosophy. Saivism, Saktism and Vaishnavism each exalts its own array of Agamas, many over 2,000 years old. Aum. BHASHYA In the vast Agamic literature, tradition counts 92 main Saiva Agamas--10 Siva, 1 8 Rudra and 64 Bhairava--77 Sakta Agamas and 108 Vaishnava Pancharatra Agamas. M ost Agamas are of four parts, called padas, and possess thousands of metered San skrit verses, usually of two lines. The charya pada details daily religious obse rvance, right conduct, the guru-shishya relationship, community life, house desi gn and town planning. The kriya pada, commonly the longest, extols worship and t emples in meticulous detail--from site selection, architectural design and icono graphy, to rules for priests and the intricacies of daily puja, annual festivals and home-shrine devotionals. The yoga pada discloses the interior way of medita tion, of raja yoga, mantra and tantra which stimulates the awakening of the slum bering serpent, kundalini. The jnana pada narrates the nature of God, soul and w orld, and the means for liberation. The Tirumantiram declares, "Veda and Agama a re Iraivan's scriptures. Both are truth: one is general, the other specific. Whi le some say these words of God reach two different conclusions, the wise see no difference." Aum Namah Sivaya. How Are the Agamas Significant Today? SLOKA 130 While the Vedas, with myriad Deities, bind all Hindus together, the Agamas, with a single supreme God, unify each sect in a oneness of thought, instilling in ad herents the joyful arts of divine adoration. Aum Namah Sivaya. BHASHYA God is love, and to love God is the pure path prescribed in the Agamas. Veritabl y, these texts are God's own voice admonishing the samsari, reincarnation's wand erer, to give up love of the transient and adore instead the Immortal. How to lo ve the Divine, when and where, with what mantras and visualizations and at what auspicious times, all this is preserved in the Agamas. The specific doctrines an d practices of day-to-day Hinduism are nowhere more fully expounded than in thes e revelation hymns, delineating everything from daily work routines to astrology and cosmology. So overwhelming is Agamic influence in the lives of most Hindus, particularly in temple liturgy and culture, that it is impossible to ponder mod ern Sanatana Dharma without these discourses. While many Agamas have been publis hed, most remain inaccessible, protected by families and guilds who are stewards of an intimate hereditary knowledge. The Tirumantiram says, "Nine are the Agama

s of yore, in time expanded into twenty-eight, they then took divisions three, i nto one truth of Vedanta-Siddhanta to accord. That is Suddha Saiva, rare and pre cious." Aum Namah Sivaya. Now please read what is said in Karana Agama: Quote:"As the worshipper sees the image of his Deity in stone, clay, wood, or pa inting, then the God grants light from the Self completely of His own accord. Th us as fire from wood, the moon casts its reflection in the water pot spontaneou