I'm not sure if this is anything...I have the temple restored and I wondered if anything would happen if I dragged one of my villagers to it. Nothing happens when I put one in the middle, but if I try to place him in between the arches, the villager image "jumps" an inch or so up on the screen, like to be on the same level as the food depository. Does this mean anything or is it just a glitch?

The same thing happens when you dump a villager on top of a hut. Maybe the villager can't occupy the same space as a hard stucture.

when i first restored the temple - it allowed my villager to honor the temple the same way they honor the dead, but after that, I could never get them to do it again.

I don't think it does anything else. Honoring the idol and dead SEEM to be unimportant events like doing laundry etc. as far as I can tell.

It seemed to me as though the temple were required before the idol could be built.