Every summer, hundreds of thousands of Indians, barefoot and draped in orange clothing, make a 100-mile pilgrimage on foot to fetch water from the sacred Ganges River that they then offer at their local temples to Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction.

Source: Holy Water for Pilgrims, via the Mail - The New York Times

USPS FOREVER STAMP HONORS THE HINDU FESTIVAL DIWALI. In an act that showcases America's religious harmony and cultural equality, the U.S. Postal Service will be issuing a special “Diwali Forever” stamp to commemorate the Hindu festival of Diwali. America has a sizable number of Hindus, Sikhs and adherents of other Indian religions. Diwali being a festival common to all of them, the Postal Department saw it as apt to issue stamps that would be representative of the nation's participation in the celebrations of the communities.

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MUMBAI, India — Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the spiritual leader who engineered the global expansion of a socially conservative Hindu sect that grew to be the largest in the United States, died on Aug. 13 in Sarangpur, a village in the state of Gujarat in western India. He was 94.

Source: Pramukh Swami Maharaj, Whose Hindu Sect Became Largest in U.S., Dies at 94 - The New York Times

HISTORY OF VARALAKSHMI VRATAM, THE FESTIVAL HONORING HINDU GOD LAKSHMI. Varalakshmi Vratam is a Hindu festival honoring the goddess Lakshmi, the wife of Lord Vishnu. What makes this celebration much more important for Hindus is the observance of the Varalakshmi Pooja (ritual) which is believed to be auspicious. Hindus believed that requests and wishes can be granted if the pooja is performed. From the time the festivity was created, it is the Hindi women, particularly the wives and mothers, who observe and perform the rituals. Most women perform the Varalakshmi Vratam asking for...

INDIA, June 23, 2016 (The Diplomat): On June 21, 2016, the world welcomed the second celebration of the International Day of Yoga - constituted last year by the United Nations through a resolution that won the support of 177 member states. In his message on Yoga Day, the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon declared the importance of promoting healthier lifestyles as part of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, which all member states adopted last year.

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Four Hindu priests sat cross-legged on the floor in front of silver trays of rice, flowers and vermillion powder, chanting in low baritones that reverberated off the bare walls of the old brick temple.An iPhone propped on a chair captured the service — known as a puja — and beamed it via Skype to a home in San Francisco, where a middle-aged woman wearing a red bindi and a head scarf watched intently.Every so often, the priests peered into the screen and instructed her to mimic a gesture or repeat an invocation.

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The dispute centers on what to call the region of South Asia and how to portray its culture in the state’s textbooks.

Source: Debate Erupts in California Over Curriculum on India’s History - The New York Times

Baba Ramdev has emerged as the leader of the “Baba Cool Movement” — a group of spiritual men who are marketing health-based products based on the ancient Indian medicinal system.

Source: A Yoga Master, the King of ‘Baba Cool,’ Stretches Out an Empire - The New York Times

It's a spring religious festival in India. People spatter each other with colored powder and spray lots of water. This year's drought is changing the tradition — to the dismay of many.

Source: On India's Holi Holiday This Year, Colored Powder Will Be Thrown But Water Balloons Might Be Illegal : Goats and Soda : NPR

At a festival celebrating the Hindu god today in Nepal, many of the holy men and women follow in the footsteps of the deity and have a little hashish.

Source: The God Shiva Is Honored At A Festival In Nepal With Bonfires ... And Marijuana : Goats and Soda : NPR

The census showed no Christians in 1951. Today there are nearly 400,000. One reason: Some evangelical groups offer aid — desperately needed after the earthquake — and also seek converts.

Source: Some Christian Groups Are Offering Aid — And Salvation — To Nepalis : Goats and Soda : NPR

(RNS) Indian-born Srinivasan placed his hand on a Hindu holy book when he was sworn in to the appeals court.

Source: Sri Srinivasan: The first Hindu on the Supreme Court? - Religion News Service

(RNS) Hinduism certainly has numerous memorable manifestations of God, from Brahma the Creator to Shiva the Destroyer.But despite the remarkable success of retail giant Amazon, its founder Jeff Bezos is not one of them.That’s why the editor of Fortune magazine is now apologizing for a colorful cover that depicts Bezos as the Hindu deity Vishnu — known as the Preserver — in a story on Amazon’s plans to “conquer” the enormous marketplace in India.“Neither the artist nor the editors of Fortune had any intention of parodying a particular deity or of offending members of the Hindu...

The Indian Museum in Kolkata has inaugurated an exhibition celebrating the worship of Hindu gods in Japan, a centuries-old tradition fueled by religious syncretism as Japanese worshippers have blended Hinduism into Buddhism and Shintoism.  

Source: India Celebrates History of Hindu Worship in Japan

The victim, Mohammad Ikhlaq, was beaten to death after residents stormed his house after a public announcement that he had killed and eaten parts of a cow, villagers said.

Source: Goat Meat, Not Beef, Found in Home of Indian Killed Over Cow-Slaughter Rumors - The New York Times