The shrines portray the divinities in sculptured images. Hindus treat these images as living human beings. For example, every day priests wash and dress the images and bring them food. Hindus do not consider this custom idol worship. They believe the divinities are actually present in the images.
Hindu temples hold annual festivals commemorating events in the lives of the divinities .
Huge crowds come to worship, to pray for assistance, and to enjoy the pageantry of the event. Millions of Hindus visit temples along the Ganges River, the most sacred river in India. Hindus worship both living and dead men as saints. Hinduism has many local and regional saints, rather than official saints for all its followers. Hinduism teaches that the soul never dies.