Latest Hinduism News
Elections in 2 Indian states are seen as a test of Prime Minister Modi's popularity
NEW DELHI (AP) — Millions of people are voting in state elections in Maharashtra, India’s western industrial hub, and the mineral-rich eastern province of Jharkhand on Wednesday, in a test of the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party and its regional partners. ...
What to know about Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's pick to be director of national intelligence
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has tapped former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to be the next director of national intelligence, a powerful position that sits atop the nation's spy agencies and acts as the president's top intelligence adviser. Gabbard is a veteran...
AP PHOTOS: Tens of thousands of Hindu devotees flock to rivers for prayers to the sun god
NEW DELHI (AP) — Tens of thousands of Hindu devotees flocked to rivers and bodies of water across India to pray to the sun god as part of the Chhath festival this week. In Noida, on the outskirts of the capital New Delhi, families gathered at the Yamuna river, which is covered...
Demonstration outside Canadian Hindu temple broken up after police spotted weapons
BRAMPTON, Ontario (AP) — A Hindu temple near Toronto where violence erupted over the weekend was the site of another demonstration this week that police broke up after they say weapons were spotted in the crowd. Peel Regional Police said in social media updates that the...
Hindus in Muslim-majority Bangladesh rally to demand protection from attacks
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Tens of thousands of minority Hindus rallied Friday to demand that the interim government in Muslim-majority Bangladesh protect them from a wave of attacks and harassment and drop sedition cases against Hindu community leaders. About 30,000 Hindus...
What is Diwali, the Festival of Lights? How is it celebrated in India and the diaspora?
Diwali is the most important festival of the year in India — and for Hindus in particular. It is celebrated across faiths by more than a billion people in the world’s most populous nation and the diaspora. Over five days, people take part in festive gatherings, fireworks...
Indians celebrate Diwali by lighting a record number of clay lamps
LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Millions of Indians began celebrating the annual Hindu festival of lights, Diwali, by symbolically lighting a record 2.51 million clay oil lamps at dusk on Wednesday on the banks of the river Saryu in a northern Indian city they believe to be the birthplace of the deity Lord...
AP PHOTOS: Ayodhya in northern India celebrates the night before Diwali with pomp and pageantry
AYODHYA, India (AP) — A priest stands with folded hands praying toward the rising sun on the banks of the Saryu River in Ayodhya in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Nearby, a group of women takes a dip in the river dressed in their saris while a barber trims the mustache of a shirtless...
Hindus in Bangladesh celebrate their largest festival under tight security following attacks
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Schoolteacher Supriya Sarker is glad to celebrate Bangladesh's largest Hindu festival of Durga Puja but feels the festivities would be more jubilant without the fear and violence that overshadow this year's event. The weeklong celebration that ends in the...
AP PHOTOS: Performers bring Hindu gods to life in the Ramleela
NEW DELHI (AP) — 23-year old Ashutosh Agnihotri has been playing god this week. Ahead of the Dussehra festival, which celebrates the defeat of mythological demon Ravana, at the hands of Lord Rama, artists dressed in ornate crowns and costumes perform the Ramleela, a dramatic...
