Kumbh Mela
For Indian American Hindus, loving India doesn’t mean holding back our criticism
By Khyati Y. Joshi — June 2, 2021
(RNS) — We must examine how ethnic pride results in soft-pedaling our criticism of the Indian government.
Indians are forced to change rituals for the dead as COVID-19 rages
By Natasha Mikles — May 4, 2021
(RNS) — Families want their loved ones cared for quickly, but there is a shortage of people who can do the funerals.
As COVID-19 swamps India, decision to allow Kumbh Mela’s crowds is scrutinized
By Bhavya Dore — May 3, 2021
MUMBAI (RNS) — As COVID-19 infections rise, the local and national governments' decision to allow the Kumbh Mela is being scrutinized as a sign of the BJP-led government favoring Hindu beliefs over safety.
‘We need a place to serve’: As India’s COVID-19 cases spiral, faith groups step up
By Bhavya Dore — April 29, 2021
(RNS) — In the grip of a deadly second wave of COVID-19, religious charities and faith-based organizations are among the many civil society groups that have stepped up to mobilize COVID relief efforts.
Huge gatherings at India’s Hindu festival as virus surges
By Neha Mehrotra and Sheikh Saaliq — April 12, 2021
NEW DELHI (AP) — The Kumbh Mela, or pitcher festival, is one of the most sacred pilgrimages in Hinduism.
Hindu monastic order is reclaiming transgender people’s status in Indian society
By Soumya Shankar — February 20, 2019
PRAYAGRAJ, India (RNS) — A reality TV star-turned-transgender activist is using the ancient Hindu tradition of akharas to go beyond activism's limits to change religious attitudes toward her community.
Catholic sisters provide medical care to Hindus at festival
By RNS staff — June 24, 2016
(Global Sisters Report) Sr. Alphy Thaikadan said she and other nuns experienced 'inter-religious dialogue at the grassroots' level while caring for an average of 250 patients a day at the dispensary during India's Kumbh Mela festival.
The Occasional Pilgrim: ‘Sacred Journeys with Bruce Feiler’
By Kimberly Winston — December 16, 2014
(RNS) In "Sacred Journeys with Bruce Feiler," airing on PBS beginning Tuesday (Dec. 16), American pilgrims travel to some of the most sacred sites in the world: Jerusalem, Mecca, the Ganges River, the Shikoku Trail, Osun-Osogbo and Lourdes.
‘Sacred Journeys’ weds new pilgrims to old paths
By Kimberly Winston — December 12, 2014
(RNS) Popular pilgrimage features protagonists who go on long, transformational journeys of both feet and faith. It is that transformational nature that separates pilgrimage from travel -- pilgrimage is a vocation, not a vacation.
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