India

Indian officials are blaming the blackouts, which have left a tenth of the world's population without power, on "energy-hungry states guzzling more than their allotted power" and crashing the grid.

Orchha takes you completely by surprise with its medieval ambiance. Instead of the drab concrete houses usually found in rural India, forts, palaces and temples jostle with each other in the bustling town square.

President Obama delivers a speech to India's Parliament, in which he backs India's quest for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council.

A pharmaceutical company in India has stopped supplying a key lethal injection drug to U.S. states, saying that it cherished the "ethos of Hinduism."

The Taj Mahal, hailed as the jewel of India, is said to be the embodiment of love. Emperor Shah Jahan built it in memory of his favorite wife and queen, a Muslim Persian princess.

Sati was a religious funeral practice among some Hindu communities in which a recently widowed woman immolates herself, voluntarily or by force, on her husband’s funeral pyre.

Smoke from incense engulfs Indian Hindu devotees as they offer prayers to the sun during the Chhath Festival in Bangalore, India.

An Indian Muslim girl in Jammu, India, displays her hands after applying mehndi for Eid al-Fitr, the festival that marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

Many illegal settlements in India have grown into bustling districts more populous than many American cities, yet lacking amenities and legal protections, and residents face the perpetual threat of eviction.

Shankar is totally in his element when he performs — sitting on his oriental rug, sitar nestled in his lap, the air scented with incense, he appears lost in a trance.