To enable them to concentrate while praying, an idol or deity is used so that all the thoughts can be channelled into a single frame. This is what is generally feferred to as Idol worship.
Its sanskrit - the mother of all languages.
Sure, Hindus have their special praying rituals.
Not necessarily. Hindus stand in front of god when they are praying in a temple. They sit in front of god when they are praying at home.
Pooja is a form of praying for God's mercy, hence it is important to Hindus.
Many pious groups face Mecca when praying. If you are in North Americal that would be east, toward the "holy land."
Hindus are Indians, so they'd most likely use Tamil or Devanagari symbols.
yes.
Hindus
One can worship the deity even without the puja items. But if one has time and would like to follow a daily ritual, then they use the puja items. These can be few or many as the situation permits. The puja items are thoroughly cleaned before use.
hindu believe that by praying god and worship they can end the suffering. They also believe that by doing good karma suffering can be ended.
praying to artemis
During Indus civilization, the people formed a method for Praying and called it Hinduism and people who followed it as Hindus. Hinduism is oldest religion in the world