Kathy VuVisual Dimension of Hindu Rituals India is well known for its rich culture, environment and is home to some of the most interesting traditions and images. In most countries in the world, people grow up in a religious family. However, the Hindu religion is particularly intriguing due to the multitude of deities that exist and some aspects that make their religion distinct from others. Hindu rituals are particularly fascinating because of Darsan which refers to a “religious vision, or visual perception of the sacred” (“Seeing the Divine Image in India”). Darsan is a significant part of Hindu rituals as they do not simply worship but rather go to "see" the image of the deity. Darsan has a strong influence on most of these pilgrimage places are famous for their divine images and this shows the close relationship between Darsan images and Hindu rituals. Visual images in Hindu rituals are important as they not only enhance the Darsan of temples or sacred places, but also have great value in the Darsan of holy people, such as “sants, sadhus and sannyasins” (5). People flocked everywhere just to catch a glimpse of the holy person even if they were unable to hear him. The eyes in a Hindu divine image have great importance because coming into contact with the eyes of the deity, it also means that the deity sees the worshipper. For example, “in India it is said that one of the ways in which the gods can be recognized as they move among people on this earth is by their fixed eyes” (7). Hindu rituals have incorporated their strong belief in Darsan by making the eyes the final part “of the anthropomorphic image to be carved or placed” (7). They would have a For example, in India, the Hindu religion is constantly present in daily life such as work, home, outside, etc. Hindu deities are visible everywhere in India and there are countless shrines and temples. There are images decorated on shops, walls and public buildings. There is no place where there is no presence of Hindu deities. The visual dimension of Hindu belief is constant throughout India as even bowing to something like sticks and stones can be of great importance. It does not matter whether a man prays in a major temple in India or, on a smaller scale, in his own home. India presents an array of images, be it the beggars of kings, street life and markets, the elderly and the young, India chooses to bring all of these into public view. The visual dimension of Hindu rituals and sacred images has played an important role in ways of thinking about the world. For many Hindus, God is not only visible in temples and shrines, but also in nature and everyday life (10). Every single aspect of life in India, good or bad, is seen through the eyes. Hindus believe that seeing is not only a form of touching but also a form of knowing. “The eye is the truth. If two people came to argue with each other we should believe the one who said he saw, not the one who said he heard” (9). For Hindus, daily life and rituals are not based only on interiority