The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, is close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and holds an outsize influence on national policy. Its goal: to redefine India according to the Hindu faith.
The 16th century Babri mosque's destruction marked a turning point in Indian politics. Thousands, mostly Muslims, died afterward in riots. The prime minister vows to build a Hindu temple on the site.
Many see India's election as a turning point in which the country may seek to redefine itself via Hinduism, its majority faith. Secularism has become "a four-letter word," says one expert.
A Sri Lankan becomes the third woman this week to enter the Sabarimala temple, which doesn't allow women of menstruating age, in India's Kerala state. The Supreme Court calls the ban discriminatory.
Some Indians say that cow dung and urine have healing properties. Science says otherwise. Nonetheless, there's a growing enthusiasm for dung- and urine-based products.
For 10 days, they sing, dance, chant and pray at the feet of Ganesh statues, then submerge them in water. The festival was once used to circumvent British rule.
Incidents of violence against non-Hindus are rising after Hindu nationalists swept recent elections in India. But critics say Hindu nationalism can't succeed in a country that is 15 percent Muslim.
The Pew Research Center says Hindus and Muslims who have migrated recently to the U.S. are especially well-educated — in stark contrast to the schooling levels of those populations worldwide.
