Why do people close their eyes in temple during darshan?

Question

In Hinduism, People visits temples for God's darshan. One of the meaning of darshan is to see using your eyes. So in this case Why people close their eyes when they actually visit temple for their God's darshan?

Answer 1

Two possible reasons why closing your eyes could be good:

1. Close your eyes and feel God's presence amidst the peace and quiet prevailing in the Temple. It is easier to concentrate when everyone around you is also doing the same.
2. Look at the deity with eyes and take darshan, then close your eyes and visualize His presence filling you and everything around you.

Sri Ramakrishna had the vision of Mother Kali at the Dakshineshwar temple as follows:

The buildings with their different parts, the temple, and all vanished from my sight, leaving no trace whatsoever, and in their stead was a limitless, infinite, effulgent ocean of Consciousness or Spirit.

Such vision cannot be easily obtained in a single day and requires constant remembrance and burning desire for God and God alone. But we can take a small step in the same direction by focusing on the God first externally and then internally.

Thus one may picture or visualize this ocean of conscious divinity filling the entire area.

But I think most people do it because they have the habit of closing their eyes and praying to God right from the childhood. Many do however keep eyes open when praying.

Side Note: Darshan does mean see God with eyes, but a deeper version of 'darshan' is to feel His presence with your 'inner eyes' (heart).

Sri Ramakrishna had the Darshan of Mother Kali in this fashion:

I was then suffering from excruciating pain because I had not been blessed with a vision of the mother. I felt as if my heart were being squeezed like a wet towel. I was overpowered by a fear that it might not be my lot to realize Her in this life. I could not bear the separation any longer: life did not seem worth living. Suddenly my eyes fell on the sword that was kept in the Mother's temple. Determined to put an end to my life, I jumped up like a madman and seized it, when suddenly the Mother revealed herself to me, and I fell unconscious on the floor. What happened after that externally or how that day or the next passed , I do not know, but within me there was a steady flow of undiluted bliss altogether new, and I felt the presence of the Divine Mother.

Basically Darshan is feeling God's presence, both internally as well as externally. Links for Sri Ramakrishna's vision experiences.

Answer 2

As far as I know, people of every religion do this. A possible reason might be it helps the person focus on his prayer by blocking out other visual stimuli.

Answer 3

We Close our eyes in temple because when we were small. Our parents use to tell us to close our eyes when praying, or go to the temple.

Most of the people are also not interested to know about the reason . I also don't know the reason.

But what i think when we go to temple when we see beautiful statue of god and then when we closes our eyes and then we are trying to imagine the same god live in our mind. So that we could be with him whole day and it create more devotion also..