While a ceremonial fusillade of firecrackers sounded outside, a black-capped Brahmin pandit recited Sanskrit prayers last week in a factory conference hall at Poona, outside Bombay. It was the time of ...

Indra, the Vedic god of rain and thunder, was once the supreme ruler of the heavens. Wielding his mighty vajra (thunderbolt), he was celebrated in the Rigveda for slaying the serpent-demon Vritra, ...

Patnaik also pointed to traditions that sit outside mainstream urban conversations. In several folk practices across India, ...

GUDUTA, India — The ritual began with a thunderous roll of leather drums, its clamor echoing through the entire village. Women dressed in colorful saris broke into an Indigenous folk dance, tapping ...