Vedas speak of one God that is the supreme ‘‘Self’’ in i.e. Atman or Soul but Hinduism indulges in worshiping 60 million Gods.+

Max Müller says ~ “The religion of the Veda knows no idols; the worship of idols in India is a secondary formation, a degradation of the more primitive worship of ideal Gods. 

Hindus are idol worshipers of a large number of Gods and Goddesses whereas Vedas declares God is ‘ONE’ and that God is Atman.

In Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~   It has been said that God Supreme or Supreme Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. God cannot be seen directly by anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions. Thus,   Idolatry does not find any support from the Vedas.

Rig Veda: ~ The Atman is the cause; Atman is the support of all that exists in this universe. May ye never turn away from the Atman the innermost ‘‘Self’’. May ye never accept another God  in place of the Atman nor worship other than the Atman?" (10:48, 5)

Rig-Veda 1-164-46 and Y.V 32-1 clearly mention that God is “One”.

Rig Veda declares God is ‘ONE’ and that God is Atman, then why believe and worship anything else in place of real God.

Thus, Atman the innermost ‘‘Self’’, is God. Thus, ‘‘Self’’-realization is real worship.    ‘‘Self’’-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is necessary to get realization.

Chandogya Upanishad Chapter: ~ ekam evaditiyam ~ God is only one without a second. (6- Section- 2- Verse- 1)

According to Vedas the Atman the innermost ‘‘Self’’, is God.

Shiv is not Vedic God. All the God s and Goddesses with form, name, and attributes belong to Hinduism, not of the Vedic religion or Santana dharma

The Origin of Shiv and Shaivism. 

Shaivism is the oldest sect of Hinduism. But we must note that Shiv is a non- Vedic God. There is no reference to Shiv or Shaivism in Rig-Veda. According to some scholars, Vedic God  Rudra was evolved in Shiv. But this theory is not accepted by other scholars. As Vedics like to adopt popular God s of others and give them a Vedic touch, it is all possible that they adopted and converted Rudra in Shiv.

For Vedics, Brahma is a creator and Vishnu is a protector. But as Shiv was an enemy of Vedics, they made him a destroyer.

Whatever today we know about Shaivism, comes from the Puranic literature, which is written much later, and so unauthentic and non-reliable.

Gavin Flood, a scholar of comparative religion with specialization to Shaivism at the University of Oxford says: ~ The formation of Śaiva traditions as we understand them begins to occur during the period from 200 BC to 100 AD.

Hindus are idol worshipers of a large number of Gods and Goddesses whereas Vedas declares God is ‘ONE’ and that God is Atman.

Thus, it refers to formless and attributeless God, which is the Atman (Soul), the innermost ‘‘Self’’ within the false experience. Thus, it indicates clearly all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imagination based on the false ‘‘Self’’.  Thus Atman or Soul, the innermost ’’Self’’ is God. 

The Vedas do not talk about idol worship. In fact, till about 2000 years ago followers of Vedism never worshiped idols. Idol worship was started by the followers of Buddhism and Jains.  There is logic to idol worship. Vedas speak of one God that is the supreme ‘‘Self’’ in i.e. Atman or Soul but Hinduism indulges in worshiping 60 million Gods.

It indicates clearly all the Gods with form and attributes are mere imagination based on the false ‘‘Self’’.

The Vedas as a body of scripture contains many contradictions and they are fragmentary in nature. For Hindus, scriptures like the Bhagavad-Gita, Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Puranas are more attractive and appealing than the Vedas. And also the Gods and Goddesses they worship differ considerably from the Vedic ones. The collection of hymns called Vedas written in the praise of certain deities by poets over several centuries does not seem to have much significance for the Hindus.

Yajur Veda says: ~

Translation 1

They enter darkness, those who worship natural things (for example air, water, sun, moon, animals, fire, stone, etc).

They sink deeper into darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol, etc.) (Yajurveda 40:9)

Translation 2

Deep into a shade of blinding gloom fall asambhuti's worshippers. They sink to darkness deeper yet who on sambhuti are intent." (Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Giffith pg 538)

Translation 3

"They are enveloped in darkness, in other words, are steeped in ignorance and sunk in the greatest depths of misery who worship the uncreated, eternal prakrti -- the material cause of the world -- in place of the All-pervading God  , But those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like) in place of God   are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time." (Yajur Veda 40:9.)

So, Yajur Veda indicates that: ~

They sink deeper into darkness those who worship sambhuti. (Sambhuti means created things, for example, table, chair, idol, etc. (Yajurveda 40:9)

Those who worship visible things born of the prakrti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like) in place of God   are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time." (Yajur Veda 40:9.)

Rig-Veda 1-164-46 and Y.V 32-1 clearly mention that God is “One”.

Rig Veda declares God is ‘ONE’ and that God is Atman, then why to believe and worship anything else in place of real God.

Thus, Atman the innermost ‘‘Self’’, is God. Thus, ‘‘Self’’-realization is real worship.    ‘‘Self’’-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is necessary to get realization.

To acquire ‘‘Self’’-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, the seeker has to realize his inherited religion is adulterated in the past and it becomes a great obstacle is realizing the ultimate truth or Brahman.  

  

The Seeker's aim is the search for the Ultimate Truth or Brahman.  The search to find the non-dualistic or Advaitic truth that in actuality never was lost, only hidden.

Upanishad aspiration is best expressed in the following sutra:~

OM Asato ma sad gaMaya , tamaso ma jyotir gaMaya , mrityor ma aamritaam gaMaya . Shanti, Shanti, Shanti

"OM Lead me from ignorance to truth, from darkness to light, from death to immortality. Peace, Peace, Peace" (Brhadaranyaka Upanishad (1/3/28)).

The belief system was coherent because they had a transcendent individualized God as a central doctrine, whereas in the realm of truth individualized God cannot be considered as the center because the Soul and the innermost ‘‘Self’’ is the center of all that exists.

First, one should not hold a God as the center of existence without verification. Both the theist and atheist are theories, nothing to do with ultimate truth or Brahman. :~Santthosh Kumaar