The Hindu tradition reflects the interweaving of Harappan, Aryan, Dravidian, and tribal cultures across the many regions of India.... Read more about The Textures of Tradition

“The one and the many” reflects the Hindu philosophy of India as well as the exchanges between India and the West. Hindu practices influence and are influenced by other religious traditions in India; the diversity of different religions continue to create dynamic patterns of interrelation.... Read more about A Context for Diversity

The Hindu tradition acknowledges different forms and representations of the divine, all understood in their relation to the supreme being, Brahman. In a single temple, for example, there may be a central sanctum dedicated to Shiva or Vishnu along with auxiliary shrines to different deities. ... Read more about Many Gods and One

The Upanishads, the “wisdom literature” of the Vedas, are teachings on the origin and essence of the universe. Taking the form of dialogues between a teacher and a student, the Upanishads point to the reality that Atman (a person’s inmost soul) is also Brahman (the transcendent being/reality).... Read more about Brahman and Atman: That Art Thou

Historically, Vedanta refers to the Upanishads or wisdom “at the end of the Veda.” Vedanta is also a philosophical teaching that requires a transfer of revolutionary knowledge (jnana) through the guidance of a teacher (guru).... Read more about Vedanta: The Way of Wisdom

Bhakti – devotion to the divine – is based on another interpretation of Vedanta: that the soul and the Divine are not One, but inexpressibly, mysteriously, both One and distinct, allowing for a relationship of love. This loving devotion, bhakti, is expressed through songs, hymns, offerings, dances, and plays. ... Read more about Bhakti: The Way of Devotion

Karma (literally “action”) is a teaching on the consequences of actions: every action that a human being performs will leave an “imprint” or have its consequences. Teachings on the path of karma from the Bhagavad Gita and Mahatma Gandhi encourage Hindus to live a life of renunciation while engaging actively in the world.... Read more about Karma: The Way of Action

Dharma is a concept of social order and duty that sustains the whole universe. A person’s placement in a caste (varna) and birth group (jati) is one element of dharma. Jati is historically also used to determine social interactions and marriages, as dharma guides every aspect of daily life. ... Read more about Dharma: The Social Order

Hindu temples house the images (murti) of the gods. Temples are used for daily worship, festivals, pilgrimages, and for seeing the gods’ images (darshan). Sacred locations like hilltops or rivers, called tirthas (“crossings” or “fords”), are sites of pilgrimage.... Read more about Abodes of God: Temple and Image

Today Hinduism is practiced and reinterpreted all over the world. There are Hindus in South Africa and East Africa, in Trinidad and Mauritius, in Australia and Austria, in the United Kingdom and in the United States.... Read more about The Hindu Diaspora

Hindu influence in the United States likely started with trading ships that traveled between ports in India and New England in the early 19th century. Prominent transcendentalist writers and thinkers, including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, were also influenced by Hindu teachings and sacred texts.... Read more about Trade and Transcendentalism

Swami Vivekananda, a Hindu religious reformer who spoke in Chicago at the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions, made an impression in America as one of the first Hindus to speak for his own religious tradition before a large audience. Vivekananda traveled across the country and spoke in various public and religious contexts, including two speaking engagements at Harvard.... Read more about Vivekananda at the Parliament

Swami Vivekananda opened the first American Vedanta Society in New York in 1894, and the second Vedanta Society in San Francisco in 1899. Vivekananda’s teachings through these societies focused on Vedanta and on yoga practice. The Vedanta society contributed to yoga’s later rise in popularity.... Read more about The Vedanta Society

Paramahansa Yogananda was a Hindu teacher who came to America to attend the International Congress of Religious Liberals in Boston in 1920, and stayed to found a religious movement. Yogananda promoted yoga as an intersection of science and religion that emphasized the mind-body relationship. Yogananda wrote The Autobiography of a Yogi, which was published in 1946; at the time of his passing in 1952, his organization the Self-Realizaiton Fellowship was the most prominent Hindu organization in the United States.... Read more about Yogananda and American Yoga

The 1960s and 1970s mark the popularity of the guru or swami movement in the United States. In the late 1960s and 1970s, new streams of Hindu religious life came to the United States with the arrival of new gurus or spiritual teachers. ... Read more about The Rush of Gurus

Increasing numbers of students and professionals immigrated from diverse regions in India during the 1960s and 70s. Once in the United States, they often formed associations based on their regional origins—associations that later became the basis for collaborations between different immigrant groups.... Read more about The New Hindu Immigrants

Hindu “temple societies” were non-profit associations dedicated to building the first generation of temples in the United States. The first Hindu temples were built in the 1970s. The organizations behind the temples blended Hindu traditions with American values like volunteerism.... Read more about The Temple Builders

The number of Hindu temples in the United States has grown rapidly in the last decades, creating a landscape of varied expressions and structures within American Hinduism that parallels both the sites and histories of India and the value of pluralism in the United States.... Read more about American Hinduism

There are many variations of Hindu rituals at home, but the home altar remains an important part of American Hindu households. The home altar can be a place for studying scripture, performing puja, gathering a small Hindu community, and celebrating holidays or special events, such as marriages.... Read more about Home Altar

Building temples is especially important for first-generation Hindu immigrants in the United States who want their children and grandchildren to know Hindu teachings and values. Although choosing sites is a challenge, Hindu communities tend to emphasize transportation accessibility (nearby highways) and the natural beauty of the locations (hillsides and hilltops).... Read more about Building a Temple

Kumbhabhishekam is a Hindu temple consecration ceremony that involves sprinkling (abhishekam) the temple with sacred waters brought in a water pot (kumbha). The consecration ceremony takes several days and begins with honoring Ganesha and praying to the Earth (bhumi puja). The central events take place in a large tent by the temple and include a fire altar ceremony, offerings of words and goods, and a closing ceremony, purnahuti or completion. ... Read more about Consecration: Kumbhabhishekam

Creating images of Gods in Hinduism is not as simple as carving stones to resemble their supposed likeness. Multiple ritual steps are involved: bathing the stone with sacred water and, most importantly, the carving/opening of the Divine eye and the establishing of breath.... Read more about Murti: The Image of God

The offerings in puja reflect five elements of the universe: earth (represented by fragrant sandalwood paste), water, space (represented by mantras and chants), wind (represented by the wafting of wind or air), and fire (represented by an arati or oil lamp offering). After prayers and consecration by the priest, these elements are shared with the worshippers.... Read more about Lamp Offerings: Hindu Worship

Ganesha is a prominent Hindu Deity worshipped as the “Lord of Beginnings” and the “Remover of Obstacles.” Ganesha’s image is represented by a human body with the head of an elephant, usually pictured carrying a book with a broken tusk as the pen. Ganesha’s shrine can be found near the entrance or in the center of a shrine.... Read more about Ganesha: the Lord of Beginnings

Vishnu is honored as the Supreme Lord by many Hindus and his most popular place of pilgrimage in India is Sri Venkateswara in Andhra Pradesh where he is known affectionately as Balaji. One of the first great temples in America is the Sri Venkateswara temple in Pittsburgh where Balaji is honored by American Hindu pilgrims
... Read more about Balaji: Vishnu in America

Rama, Sita, and Hanuman are central, divine characters in the Ramayana. Rama is both worshipped and admired as a righteous king and a fully human incarnation of Lord Vishnu. During a Rama Navami Celebration, Rama's birth is celebrated and his wedding to Sita is reenacted. Families with daughters of marriageable age serve as sponsors for the divine wedding, which is also a chance to pray for the good marriage of their daughters in the future.
... Read more about Rama, Sita, Hanuman

Shiva or Mahadeva, the Supreme Lord, is a God of creation and destruction. Depicted as both male and female, Shiva is most commonly worshipped in the form of a simple stone shaft (Shiva linga), a male/female symbol of cosmic wholeness. Shiva may also be depicted in cross-legged yogi forms. Hindu communities hold Maha Shivaratri (The Great Night of Shiva), an annual celebration of Shiva.... Read more about The Great Night of Shiva

The festival of Lord Krishna (also called Ratha Yatra or the “Chariot Journey” of Lord Krishna) is celebrated during the summer months with a parade of big and colorful handmade chariots bearing images of Lord Krishna, his sister Subhadra, and his brother Balaram. The festival provides an opportunity for darshan, or “seeing” the image of Lord Krishna on the city’s streets.... Read more about Krishna’s Chariot Festival

The Goddess in the Hindu faith is known by many names: Parvati (the wife of Shiva), Lakshmi or Bhu Devi (the wife of Vishnu), Durga or Kali, Shakti (meaning power). Her most common name most often used in prayer is Ma, or Mother. The main celebration of the Goddess is Durga Puja, also called Navaratri since it takes place over “Nine Nights.” Ma, or Mother, is also used to refer to women whose lives embody the power of the Divine within the Hindu community. ... Read more about Many Ma’s: Goddess in America

Ashrams are Hindu retreat centers that contribute to the cultivation of spiritual lives. Ashrams may offer year-round community, weekend and week-long retreats, lectures, and swami consultations.... Read more about Ashram: The Forest Retreat

Upanayana is a Hindu rite of passage ritual primarily for boys, marking their rebirth into the world of the Vedas and their readiness to learn the tradition. In the middle of the ceremony, boys are given special tradition garments,  often in the form of a new white silk dhoti. They are also given the “sacred thread” in the form of a cord tied over the left shoulder and under the right arm. These materials signify the boy’s readiness for learning, studying the Veda, and performing rituals.... Read more about Upanayana: The Sacred Thread

First- and second-generation Hindu Americans stress the importance of intergenerational communication of Hindu values as necessary to maintaining temples and Hindu culture. In light of this, many temples offer educational programs such as “children’s pujas,” where parents and children come to the temple and learn how to make offerings, summer camps, youth conferences, dance and language classes.... Read more about The Future of Temples?

The unique context of the United States has often challenged American Hindu's affirmation of the oneness of its many visions of the Divine. Whereas different traditions in India may not have to share resources or festivals, Hindus of different backgrounds in the United States often need to share resources, and as such must address questions such as which prominent Deity will occupy a central space in the shared Hindu temple.... Read more about Many Traditions, Many Peoples

“What is Hinduism” remains one of the most persistent and challenging questions Hindu Americans face. This is a difficult question to answer, given the wide array of practices and different national, generational, and geographical identities and beliefs in Hinduism. 
... Read more about What is Hinduism?

Hindu communities organize summer camps, which are part of the wider youth culture of the United States. Summer camps allow youth to learn about their Hindu backgrounds in engaging ways: performing pujas, practicing yoga, dance and music, doing sports, plays, and performances. Led by swamis, question and answer sessions are one of the central camp events.  The Q&As provide opportunities for campers to ask questions and discuss stereotypes about their faith that they encounter among their non-Hindu peers.... Read more about Hindu Summer Camps

Yoga (literally “to yoke” or “to join”) is both a spiritual and physical discipline of uniting body and mind through different meditations. Yoga begins with a practice of morality, restraining from violence, dishonesty, and strong desires for material possessions, among others. Yoga focuses on the breath, thus cultivating stability and one-pointedness of mind along with flexibility of the body.... Read more about Yoga, Health, the New Age

The city of Kashi or Varanasi/Banaras in India that sits on the banks of the Ganges is known for its cremation grounds. This name is preserved by the Kashi Ashram in Florida, known for its service to the dying. Kashi Ashram is a legacy of Ma Jaya, a Brooklyn-born American woman of Jewish descent who founded the ashram. Ma is remembered for her loving service to those who are dying, visiting hospitals and AIDS hospices in the city, offering cookies and fruits, and visiting, hugging, and encouraging the hospitals’ patients, especially those with AIDS.... Read more about Serving the Dying

The non-profit Hindu Students Council (HSC) is the most extensive Hindu student organization in the United States. The organization, present on college campuses across the United States, allows members to learn about the spiritual and cultural elements of Hinduism and provides opportunities for educational and service events. The HSC is notable for providing a welcoming environment to cultivate the Hindu tradition, though its members also raise questions about its affiliation with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) of America, which promotes Hindu nationalist agendas.... Read more about Hindu Revival on Campus