Maha Kumba Mela or Big Pitcher festival commemorates a story that describes the god Vishnu's fight with demons to gain possession of a golden pitcher containing the nectar of immortality. During the battle, some drops fell to the earth on the pilgrimage sites.

Protestants still make up most of Congress, but this week a Hindu and a Buddhist were also among those sworn in.

Is this a film aimed at helping audiences find God? “It wouldn’t be that easy,” says director Ang Lee. “You have to go through suffering and pain. You have to be in awe. You have to go through tests to believe in God—or not believe in God, in some cases.”

In this territorial dispute between India and Pakistan in what may be the world’s most militarized region, there are direct links between water availability, rising terrorism, and religious extremism among Hindus and Muslims.

Watch an audio slideshow of students at Georgetown University celebrating the Hindu festival of colors.

Hindus honor thousands of deities, and every Hindu has a favorite god, but Ganesha is "a god that is chosen by almost everybody because he is the remover of obstacles," says Indian studies professor S. N. Shridhar.

“He is the maintainer, the preserver, the one who saves the earth over and over and over again, “ says Joan Cummins, curator of the Brooklyn Museum’s exhibition “Vishnu: Hinduism’s Blue-Skinned Savior.”

At the central jail in Bhopal, India, the prison superintendent says a yoga program calms the jail’s atmosphere and speeds the release of inmates.

Patients at this hospital in Madurai, India are among the world's poorest people. It was founded by a pioneering eye surgeon who was a disciple of the spiritual teacher Sri Aurobindo, and its business success and social mission have long made it a model in public health textbooks.

Bhavana Gupta says her generation will go to a Hindu temple in New Delhi and say, "Let's give the priest 500 rupees to have him do a good prayer service for us." But the younger generation questions this traditional Hindu practice and asks why.