Darsan

A fascinating and rigorous guide to deciphering Hindu symbolism, this book will help you understand and appreciate religious art in India. Despite its scholarly paraphernalia and language, the book (whose title translates as "seeing") is tremendously useful for the traveler. It's an eye-opening book for the intellectually curious. With a useful glossary and some not-very-good photographs. "The role of the visual is essential to Hindu tradition and culture, but many attempts to understand India's divine images have been laden with misperceptions. Darśan, 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."—Religious Studies Review

Diana L. Eck, professor of comparative religion and Indian studies, and director of The Pluralism Project at Harvard University, is the editor of On Common Ground: World Religions in America, a multimedia CD-ROM (Columbia).