The question is valid. This is natural for a student of Vedānta. In the early stages of study, in the light of our philosophy, our institutions and rituals, prayers and worship would strike anyone as a meaningless anomaly, an unnecessary paradox.

To understand intellectually the one supreme Reality is only the elementary stage; its fulfilment is in realising It in a direct, subjective experience, in yourself, for yourself. To reach that subjective experience, the student needs to worship the macrocosmic cause of the universe, in order to fold his mind from its total preoccupation with his microcosmic world of selfish and egocentric joys and sorrows.

You know that the essence of the cow is in her milk; and this pervades her entire vital body. Yet, if I want to milk the cow, though the milk is all-pervading, I cannot get it by squeezing her horns or her tail; I must go to her udder. God, the Lord, is all-pervading; but to invoke Him we need the altar.

In a democracy, the government of a country is present at every point within the frontiers of that nation. Yet, if I want to invoke the government for a permit or for help, I must reach the capital, approach the right departmental head, and invoke the government’s protection or patronage.

Temples are places where you practise what you have studied in the textbooks. They are the gymnasiums for the mind. Remember that it is a mental gymnasium – not physical. Surrender the mind in devotion unto Him! He will purify it and return it back to you immediately.

By this process of invocation, we experience a new expansion. At first, they are but passing moments, but soon enough these moments come to stay. And they remind us again and again of our true nature, reviving us from all our inner conflicts, leading us into an ampler field of fuller satisfaction in life. Through prayer alone is devotion discovered, deepened, and fulfilled. We learn to give up our lesser nature and assert our nobler and diviner possibilities through many devotional practices, such as chanting the Lord’s name, or congregational prayers in sanctified temples of God.

Therefore, a temple is necessary. A temple is a place where His presence can be contacted directly. A receiving set is necessary to hear a broadcast from Delhi. The sound waves are available in the ether everywhere. But if you want to receive and enjoy them you must have a receiving set and tune it to that particular station. Similarly, we go to the temple to tune our mental equipment in order to receive the divine message.

Let Him in His wisdom plan and work out the best for His creation through us.