(RNS) — Hindus in India have had a helping hand — several in fact — when it comes to fighting deadly contagions like COVID-19: multi-armed goddesses co-opted to help contain and kill pestilence.

“Mother India: The Goddess in Indian Painting” is a small show, nothing like the “Wonders of the Age: Master Painters of India 1100-1900,” which the Metropolitan Museum plans for this September.

Jagannath, worshipped primarily in Odisha, is a mysterious deity whose origins are steeped in tribal and Vedic syncretism. Unlike typical anthropomorphic gods, Jagannath’s wooden idol has a block-like ...

(RNS) — India has a history of worshipping female divinities during times of disease outbreaks. There have been goddesses of plague, smallpox and cholera through the past centuries. MUMBAI (RNS) — As ...

A statue embodies the divine power, a power that has created and nurtured this universe. Indian mythology has many gods and goddesses, each having a role and significance. You can find them in temples ...

Between the second and sixth centuries, a series of pandemics destabilized the Roman empire. The first of these was the Antonine Plague, between 165-180 AD, and the second was the Plague of Justinian, ...

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 ...

NEW DELHI, (IANS) – Shree Amma Yanger Ayyappan, famous forever as Sridevi, would have been celebrating her 60th birthday this year, had she not met her premature end at the Jumeirah Emirates Tower ...

Myth As Mirror: An Evening of Storytelling, shape-shifting demons, powerful gods, warrior goddesses, divine animals! These are the characters that inhabit the Hindu myths that Monica will tell. These ...

According to legends, it is believed that presiding deities in the temple seem to "talk" to each other at night, after the temple is closed for darshan, and devotees and local residents have reported ...

It is often said that eating non-vegetarian food is considered a sin in Hinduism, but there are some temples in India where non-vegetarian food is offered as an offering. These temples are said to be ...