Statues or Idol worship Best and easiest method of worship

Idol worship or worship using Statues, this is one of the biggest attacks which Santan dharma faces by anti Hindu forces. Although Hindus know that this is one of the many methods of offering devotional services but it appears some people from other religions either don't know the meaning of devotion or have evil intentions towards Sanatan dharma and that's why they are seen making such noises.

Many saints have already given very clear explanation for the same, and refence is given in Shrimad Bhagvat Gita itself.

Here is one explanation from Swami Vivekanand;
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All of you have been taught to believe in an omnipresent God. Try to think of it.How few of you can have any idea of what omnipresence means! If you struggle hard, you will get something like the idea of ocean, or of the sky, or of a vast stretch of green earth, or of a desert. All these are material images, and so long as you cannot conceive of the abstract as abstract, of the ideal as the ideal, you will have to resort to these forms, these material images. It does not make much difference whether these images are inside or outside the mind. We are all born idolators, and idolatry is good, because it is in the nature of man. Who can get beyond it? Only the perfect man, the God-man. The rest are all idolators. So long as we see the universe before us, with its forms and shapes, we are all idolators. This is a gigantic symbol we are worshipping. He who says that he is the body, is a born idolator. We are spirit, spirit that has no form or shape, spirit that is infinite, and not matter. Therefore any one who cannot grasp the abstract, who cannot think of himself as he is, except in and through matter, as the body, is an idolator. And yet how people fight among themselves, calling one another idolators! In other words, each says,his idol is right, and the others' are wrong.

(Swami Vivekanand)

There is direct refence in Srimad Bhagvat gita for the same.

Ch12:Sh5
Chlesho adhik tarastesham avyakta asakta chetsam,
avyaka hi gatirdukham deha va dvibharvapyate.

"Those devotees who have their fixed mind on the invisible(Unmanifested) have more difficulty becuase it is tough to retain the unmanifest."

(Lord Shri Krishna in Srimad Bhagvat Gita. Ch12:Sh5)
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It is very clearly said in above shloka that worship using any manifested (image, or stautes) is easier as human mind can not understnad unmanifest easly. Human mind is made to understand the facts with the help of associations. No worship is possible unless mind is able to associate with some figure of God. There is nothing better than Statue to associate God with, Idol or symbol/image worth thousands of words. Feeling of devotion generated by looking at the statue or idol of Lord is unparalleled. Looking at idol devotee immediately establishes its devotion with God and he needs nothing else. no words, no dictation is required.

Hence worshipping using Image or Idol makes the worship process very easy. In fact no worship is possible without using one or other kind of symbol. If something is possible without using sysmbol is only Yoga, meditation and Tapashya and everybody knows these are part of Sanatan Dharma only.

Therefore one should never have any doubts in using any symbol, image or statue to offer devotional services.