An excerpt from the English translation of Jagadguru Sri Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswamiji's Anugrahabhashanam expounding the importance of temples.

God is omnipresent — this is the established conclusion of our Sanatana Vaidika Dharma. Is it then proper to install God, who is everywhere, inside a temple? This doubt arises in some. It is only to reveal the truth of His omnipresence that God emerged out of a pillar as Lord Narasimha, when Prahlada's faith was put to the test by Hiranyakashipu.

Why, then, build a temple? Because not every person's spiritual maturity (samskaara) is alike. The Shastras describe grades of qualification — Mandaadhikaari, Madhyamaadhikaari and Uttamaadhikaari. An Uttamaadhikaari, like Prahlada, sees God everywhere and needs no temple. But how many of us possess such maturity? For the rest of us — the Mandaadhikaaris — our ancients established the sacred medium of the temple, where an idol consecrated according to Shastric injunction becomes the seat of the Lord's Divine Presence.

In our lives, sorrow and happiness follow one another. In difficulty, it is the temple where we may pour out our sufferings before the Lord, meditate in His presence, and find solace. With utmost faith, devotion and surrender, we worship and depend upon God as consecrated in the temple — and there is no doubt that His grace will be attained.