Richa Karmarkar
Richa Karmarkar is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by Richa Karmarkar
Hinduism has no rules against marrying outside the faith. But couples say it has its bumps.
By Richa Karmarkar — February 20, 2024
(RNS) — Among American Hindus, a survey by the organization Interfaith Shaadi found that 38% marry outside the umbrella of Dharmic faiths — Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism.
The first traditional Hindu temple in the Middle East promotes a message of interfaith tolerance
By Richa Karmarkar — February 14, 2024
(RNS) — The mandir, or temple, will create a spiritual home for the more than 3.5 million Indian expatriates who make up 30% of the UAE’s population.
Every week is World Interfaith Harmony Week for devotees of Swami Vivekananda
By Richa Karmarkar — February 7, 2024
(RNS) — As religious conflict and disharmony rage on elsewhere in the world, the interfaith teachings of Swami Vivekananda are evergreen to these devotees.
Sikh Americans, citing ‘transnational repression,’ vote for an independent homeland
By Richa Karmarkar — February 1, 2024
(RNS) — More and more Sikh Americans are fearful about an ‘alarming rise’ in transnational repression, according to several Sikh advocacy organizations.
These three candidates for Congress are running on (Hindu) values
By Richa Karmarkar — January 26, 2024
(RNS) — Hindu Americans are making inroads into the political space like never before.
In India’s new Ram temple, some American Hindus see a new beginning
By Richa Karmarkar — January 19, 2024
(RNS) — For many Hindus in the diaspora, the temple opening signifies a new beginning — one that has the power to strengthen the roots of the global Hindu ecosystem.
On Vivekananda’s 160th birthday, female monastics venerate the ‘mother’ of his movement
By Richa Karmarkar — January 12, 2024
PUNE, India (RNS) — The female monks at Sri Sarada Math in Pune, India, celebrated Sarada Devi’s birth anniversary on Jan. 3, in accordance with the Hindu auspicious calendar.
In new temple to Lord Ram, the Indian city of Ayodhya hopes to shed a disturbing history
By Richa Karmarkar and Yashraj Sharma — January 12, 2024
AYODHYA, India (RNS) — Once a quaint town, this 2,500-year-old city will soon complete a transformation into a global pilgrimage site that will outstrip its renown as a center of Hindu nationalist violence.
Recent incidents of temple vandalism leave American Hindus worried about a larger trend
By Richa Karmarkar — January 8, 2024
(RNS) — These instances point to a clear trend, say Hindu American advocates, of anti-Hindu hate crimes on the rise.
6 pop culture and religion clashes from 2023
By Richa Karmarkar — December 29, 2023
(RNS) — Remember when the pope became a fashion icon?
Revitalization of India’s ancient sacred city of Varanasi leaves some longtime visitors cold
By Richa Karmarkar — December 22, 2023
VARANASI, India (RNS) — Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to revitalize the city's historic sacred sites have increased domestic religious tourism, but for some foreign spiritual seekers, the shiny new hotels, landmarks and tourist-centered rituals have made the experience of visiting a hollow one.
In India’s holiest city, Hindus worship the nation of India
By Richa Karmarkar — December 20, 2023
VARANASI, India (RNS) — The Bharat Mata mandir in India’s holiest city has come to represent an ideology that many in Narendra Modi’s constituency hold — a distinctly religious allegiance to the personified mother goddess of India.
Muslim group files religious discrimination complaint against Maryland public schools
By Richa Karmarkar — December 8, 2023
(RNS) — El-Haggan's administrative leave comes at a time when public schools across the country reckon with free speech surrounding the ongoing conflict.
Houston’s Hindu youth will soon have a summer campsite of their own
By Richa Karmarkar — November 24, 2023
(RNS) — The Texas Hindu Campsite is set to open by the summer of 2024, just one year before the Hindu Heritage Youth Camp's 40-year anniversary.
From India’s Bihar to California’s Bay Area, Hindus celebrate ancient sun festival
By Richa Karmarkar — November 16, 2023
(RNS) — The ritual celebrating the rising and setting sun predates the Hindu gods that are more commonly known today, and stems from the earliest tradition of Hinduism, known as Vedic Hinduism.
