Darsan: Seeing the New Image in India

by Diana L. Eck

The experience of the divine in India merges the three components of sight, performance, and sound. One in a trilogy of books that include Harold G. Coward and David J. Goa's Mantra: Hearing the Divine in India and America and Susan L. Schwartz's Rasa: Performing the Divine in India, Darsan presents an introduction to the use of sight-darsan-in the practice of Indian religion.

The role of the visual image is essential to Hindu tradition and culture, but many attempts to understand India's divine images have been laden with misperceptions. Darsan, a Sanskrit word that means "seeing," is an aid to our vision, a Sanskrit word that means "seeing," is an aid to our vision, a book of ideas to help us read, think, and look at Hindu images with appreciation and imagination.