Hinduism is so flexible that it advocates the worship of God in His various forms to suit the likes and maturity of the worshipper.These forms are meant to realise the formless God at a later stage.As the concept may be difficult for a layman it never compels anyone to accept God only in a particular form.It simply teaches him to accept the ever existing Almighty. It even sets goal for the individual to attain the state where there is no birth or death.In other words, it is described as "jeevan mukthi".

As God is described as omnipresent he can not be confined to one particular form or shape. However,the devotee can choose any form of his like for the purpose of concentration and regularisation of his worship. The faith gets moulded at this stage and remains as a strong platform. Failure to understand the basics right may lead to the extent of blaming the religion without even making an attempt to know the Truth.

Critics simply comment without going deep into the subject. But it is a pity that even the so called believers whose faith is shaky are unable to silence the critics by their wisdom. The inability to answer makes the faith taking a back seat. They start doubting the numerous forms described as the weakness.But it indeed is the strength of the religion in the sense that it is so kind to all human beings in giving opportunities and choices which can fit them best.
The next question would be to tell the benefit of knowing the fundamentals.

As stated earlier, the blind faith would terminate if the shaky platform is collapsed in difficult times. The greatest benefit one would derive is to understand what he is practising. The next feeling would be to rejoice what he has experienced.The refined step would be to share his experience with others. The ultimate step would be to reach those who need to be taught. All are expected to be familiar with the often quoted sentence from Thirumoolar's Thirumandiram,

நான் பெற்ற இன்பம் peruha இவ்வையகம்

It is with this message/introduction we move on to share the basics of this great religion.

To be continued