The United States’ Hindu population is estimated to have tripled in just over 15 years, to around 1 million. As Hindus’ numbers grow and as new generations are born here, journalists can find rich stories to tell about the many ways Hindus are engaging in U.S. society and culture. Hinduism is the third-largest organized religion in the world. ReligionLink offers a guide to Hindu experts and organizations, along with story ideas that can be reported in any region of the country.

How to use this guide

This guide is organized into several topics. Scholars may be listed under more than one area, depending on their expertise. Click to jump to:

Major issues in Hinduism in the U.S.

As with any immigrant group, the question of how much to assimilate into American society and culture is a major one for Hindus born overseas. Below are some issues involving assimilation that are of concern to Hindus in America:

• Working to get Hindu holidays recognized by school districts and businesses. New York now takes religious holidays, including Hindu ones, into account when scheduling exams. New Jersey schools recognize Diwali as a holiday, but Tampa, Fla., recently did away with school off-days for religious holidays altogether, prompting angry responses from many parents.
• Determining what it means to be Hindu in America. Raising their American-born children in their faith has forced immigrant parents to define Hinduism’s beliefs and doctrines to an extent that they would not have had to do in India or other places where the religion is indigenous.
• Responding to insensitivity, intolerance and hate crimes. Hindus are joining together to defend their faith and educate others in response to temple vandalism (in Minnesota) and recent remarks by public officials, including then-Sen. George Allen, R-Va., (who in August 2006 called a man of Indian heritage a “macaca”) and then-U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris, R-Fla. (who the same month said that to elect non-Christians would be to “legislate sin”). These efforts to educate communities have resulted in growing interfaith contact.
• Becoming politically involved. As with other immigrant groups, Hindu-Americans feel pulled in two directions politically. Those who are American citizens know that becoming involved in American politics is a major path to assimilation. But most also feel deep political ties to their country of origin. Striking a comfortable balance can be difficult. The Hindu American Foundation divides its resources among a number of political causes, lobbying American Congress members on a range of issues, from human rights in India to wider recognition of Diwali as a holiday.
• Constructing temples. Issues concerning the construction of Hindu temples in the U.S. have to do with freedom of religion, land use and the challenges of satisfying the religious needs of a diverse Hindu-American population. One U.S. temple may have to serve Hindus from Northern and Southern India, Guyana and the Caribbean, as well as their American-born children. Conflict can arise over style of architecture, selection of temple deities and priests. Temples in America also serve a range of purposes that Indian temples do not, with many functioning as community meeting halls, cultural resource centers and religious education schools as well as places of worship. In June 2006, the first national meeting of Hindu mandir (temple) executives was held in Atlanta. Executives came from 57 temples in more than 20 states, Canada and the Caribbean Islands. They passed resolutions on pan-Hinduism in North America, textbooks and community service. See the group’s Web site.
• Monitoring textbooks. This has been a growing concern among American Hindus since 2005, when California proposed the adoption of nine school textbooks that some Hindus felt misrepresented their religion and were otherwise discriminatory. In September 2006, a California judge ruled that the state did not have to withdraw the textbooks but agreed that the process by which they are adopted is unfair. Out of the conflict, the Hindu Education Foundation was formed, and it now holds educational seminars for educators and parents in other states.
• Promoting language. There is a small but growing move to promote the speaking of Sanskrit, the classical language of India and the liturgical language of Hinduism, among the Hindu diaspora, especially in America. The move was started by a group of students at the University of Maryland and young professionals from the same area. They launched a Web site in July 2006.

Demographic information

There is disagreement about the number of Hindus in the U.S. Temples do not require membership, so there is no official count. There have been few surveys, and results have varied depending on the way information was collected and how questions were phrased. Current estimates range from three-quarters of a million to 1.2 million.

• The 2001 American Religious Identification Survey conducted by the Graduate Center of the City University of New York reported religious affiliation of adults in the United States: Although less than 1 percent – 766,000 adults – reported themselves as Hindu, that represents a more-than-threefold increase over the 227,000 in 1990. Fifty-two percent of Americans said they are Protestant, .5 percent are Catholic, 14.1 percent “no religion,” 1.3 percent Jewish and 0.5 percent Muslim or Islamic.
• The World Christian Database at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary estimates that there are slightly more than 1.1 million Hindus in America.
• The Pluralism Project of Harvard University maintains a page on religious statistics and relies on various sources to count 1.2 million Hindus in the U.S. The project lists Hindu temples and centers in the U.S.

Scholars of Hinduism (in North America)

The South Asian Journalists Association posts a link to experts on South Asian religions, including Hinduism.

GENERAL

• Sajida S. Alvi is a professor of Urdu at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. She has written about classical and modern Hindu thought. Contact 514-398-2587, sajida.alvi@mcgill.ca.
• Lawrence Alan Babb is a professor in the department of anthropology and sociology at Amherst College in Amherst, Mass. He teaches a course on religions in South Asia and has studied Hinduism as practiced in India. He has also written about modern interpretations of Hinduism. Contact 413-542-2131, lababb@amherst.edu.
• Edwin F. Bryant is an associate professor of religion at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., where he teaches courses in Hindu philosophy and religion. He specializes in the Krishna tradition and the Hare Krishna movement. Contact 732-932-3289, edbryant@rci.rutgers.edu.
• Richard H. Davis is a professor of religion at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. He is an expert in the Shaiva traditions of India. He can discuss the rise of Indian nationalism and how it makes itself felt in the U.S., as well as provide background information on the textbook debate. Contact 845-758-7364, rdavis@bard.edu.
• Diana L. Eck is a professor of comparative religion and Indian studies at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. She is one of the foremost scholars of Hinduism, having traveled and written widely about India and its religions. She is also the director of Harvard’s Pluralism Project, which explores the religious diversity of the U.S. Contact 617-495-5781, dianaeck@fas.harvard.edu.
• Nancy Auer Falk is a professor emeritus of the department of comparative religion at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. She is the author of Living Hinduisms: An Explorer’s Guide (Wadsworth Publishing, 2005). Contact 269-387-4393, nancy.falk@wmich.edu.
• Anne Feldhaus is a professor of religious studies at Arizona State University in Tempe. She specializes in folk Hinduism. Contact 480-965-4749, anne.feldhaus@asu.edu.
• Ariel Glucklich is an of professor of theology at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He teaches a course in Hindu religious traditions and has written several books on Hindu dharma. Contact 202-687-4513, glucklia@georgetown.edu.
• Daniel Gold is a professor of South Asian religions at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. He specializes in North Indian devotional traditions. Contact 607-255-1339, drg4@cornell.edu.
• Brian A. Hatcher is a professor of religion and humanities at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington. He teaches courses in the Hindu religious tradition. Contact 309-556-3160, bhatcher@iwu.edu.
• John Stratton Hawley is a professor of religion at Barnard College at Columbia University in New York, N.Y., where he maintains a Hindu studies Web site. He is a specialist in the devotional traditions of North India and Krishna. Contact 212-854-5292, jsh3@columbia.edu.
• Pankaj Jain is a scholar of Indic Traditions and Ecology and is an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion Studies and the Department of Anthropology at the University of North Texas. He has also taught at North Carolina State University, Rutgers, Kean, and New Jersey City University. He holds an MA from Columbia and PhD from University of Iowa. He can be reached at pankajaindia@gmail.com.
• John Llewellyn is professor of religious studies at Missouri State University in Springfield. He is the editor of Defining Hinduism: A Reader (Routledge, 2005), a volume of essays. Contact 417-836-6681, jel807f@missouristate.edu.
• William K. Mahony is a professor of religion at Davidson College in Davidson, N.C. He is an expert in contemplative and Vedic Hinduism. Contact 704-894-2258, bimahony@davidson.edu.
• Vasudha Narayanan is Distinguished Professor of Religion at the University of Florida in Gainesville, and she helped found the university’s Center for the Study of Hindu Traditions, of which she is director. She is a noted scholar of Hinduism and a past president of the American Academy of Religion. Contact 352-392-1625, vasu@ufl.edu.
• Anantanand Rambachan is a professor of religion at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. His areas of expertise include classical Hinduism, especially Vedanta. Contact 507-646-3081, rambacha@stolaf.edu.
• Robin Rinehart is an associate professor in religious studies at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa. She is an expert in Hinduism and Hindu saints. Contact 610-330-5179, rineharr@lafayette.edu.
• Arvind Sharma is a professor of comparative religion at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and specializes in modern Hindu thought. He is the author of author of Classical Hindu Thought: An Introduction (new edition, Oxford University Press, 2001). Contact 514-398-4123, arvind.sharma@mcgill.ca.
• Gene Thursby is an associate professor of religion at the University of Florida in Gainesville. He co-edited The Hindu World (Routledge, 2004). Contact 352-392-1625.

ART, MUSIC AND ARCHITECTURE IN AMERICA

• Guy L. Beck is a visiting professor of religion at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington. He is the author of Sonic Theology: Hinduism and Sacred Sound (University of South Carolina Press, 1993). Contact 910-763-1116, beckg@uncw.edu.
• Linda B. Hess is a lecturer in religious studies at Stanford University in Stanford, Calif. She is an expert in the poetry of 15^th- and 16^th-century Hindu saints and can discuss their continued influence. Contact 650-725-9732, lionda@stanford.edu.
• Timothy Lubin is an associate professor of religion at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va. He teaches a course on Hindu temples. Contact 540-458-8146, lubint@wlu.edu.
• Joanne Punzo Waghorne is a professor of religion at Syracuse University in Syracuse, N.Y. She has written a book about the construction of Hindu temples and their internal organizations in urban areas, including Washington, D.C. Contact 315-443-5715, jpwaghor@syr.edu.

ENVIRONMENT

• Christopher Key Chapple is a professor of theological studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He is the co-editor of Hinduism and Ecology: The Intersection of Earth, Sky and Water (Harvard Center for the Study of World Religions, 2000). Contact 310-338-2846, cchapple@lmu.edu.
• Pankaj Jain is a scholar of Indic Traditions and Ecology and is an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion Studies and the Department of Anthropology at the University of North Texas. He has also taught at North Carolina State University, Rutgers, Kean, and New Jersey City University. He holds an MA from Columbia and PhD from University of Iowa. He can be reached at pankajaindia@gmail.com.
• Eliza Kent is an assistant professor of religion at Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y. She specializes in Hinduism and the environment in South India. Contact 315-228-7688, ekent@mail.colgate.edu.
• Mary McGee is an adjunct professor in the religion department at Columbia University in New York, N.Y. She has written about Hinduism and the environment. Contact 212-854-6821, mm383@columbia.edu.
• Vasudha Narayanan is a professor of religion at the University of Florida in Gainesville. She is the author of Hinduism (Oxford University Press, 2004). One of her specialties is Hinduism and the environment. Contact 352-392-1625, vasu@ufl.edu.
• Whitney Sanford is an assistant professor of religion at the University of Florida in Gainesville. She is an expert on Hindu narratives of agriculture and religion and nature in South Asia. Contact 352-392-1625.

GANDHI

• Peter Gottschalk is an associate professor of religion at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn. He teaches a course in how religions resist modernity and can discuss how Gandhi organized such resistance. Contact 860-685-2293, pgottschalk@wesleyan.edu.
• Lester R. Kurtz is a professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Austin. He is an expert in Gandhian thought. Contact 512-232-6316, lkurtz@mail.la.utexas.edu.
• Sushil Mittal is an associate professor of religion and philosophy and the director of the Gandhi Center for Global Nonviolence at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va. He is an expert on Gandhian thought and a specialist in Indian studies. He is the author of several books on Hinduism. Contact 540-568-6137, mittalsx@jmu.edu.

HINDUISM IN AMERICA

• Loriliai Biernacki is an assistant professor of religious studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her research interests include Hinduism in the diaspora. Contact 303-492-8041, loriliai.biernacki@colorado.edu.
• Christopher Key Chapple is a professor of theological studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He contributed a chapter on Gurani Anjali and her Yoga Anand Ashram to Gurus in America (State University of New York, 2005). Contact 310-338-2846, cchapple@lmu.edu.
• Corinne G. Dempsey is an associate professor of religious studies at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and the author of The Goddess Lives in Upstate New York: Breaking Convention and Making Home at a North American Hindu Temple (Oxford University Press, 2005), a profile of a South Indian community in Rush, N.Y. Contact 715-346-2505, cdempsey@uwsp.edu.
• Thomas A. Forsthoefel is an associate professor of religious studies at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa. He is the co-editor of Gurus in America (State University of New York, 2005). Contact 814-824-2353, tforsthoefel@mercyhurst.edu.
• Michael J. Gressett is a graduate student at the Center for the Study of Hindu Traditions at the University of Florida in Gainesville. His research interests include Hindu traditions in America. Contact 352-392-1625, saumya@ufl.edu.
• Daniel Gold is a professor of South Asian religions at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. He specializes in modern Indian religious movements and has written about the issues raised when Indian gurus gain large Western followings. Contact 607-255-1339, drg4@cornell.edu.
• Cynthia Ann Humes is an associate professor of philosophy and religious studies at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, Calif. She is the co-editor of Gurus in America (State University of New York, 2005), to which she contributed a chapter on Transcendental Meditation and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Contact 909-607-8713, cynthia.humes@claremontmckenna.edu.
• Khyati Y. Joshi, is an assistant professor of education at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, N.J., and she is the author of New Roots in America’s Sacred Ground: Religion, Race, And Ethnicity in Indian America (Rutgers University Press, 2006). Contact 210.692.2836, khyati@fdu.edu.
• Meena Rani Khandelwal is an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. She has received funding from the American Institute of Indian Studies to conduct a comparative study of Hindu ashrams in India and in the United States that investigates issues of social change. Contact 319-335-2496, meena-khandelwal@uiowa.edu.
• Jeffrey J. Kripal is a professor of religious studies at Rice University in Houston. His specialty is Asian religions in America, and he focuses on European and American translations or adoptions of Hindu ideas and practices. He wrote a chapter on Adi Da for Gurus in America (State University of New York, 2005) and has a forthcoming book (University of Chicago Press, 2007) about the Esalen Institute’s countercultural translation of Hinduism. Contact via B.J. Almond, Rice University News and Media Relations Office, 713-348-6774.
• James F. Lewis is a professor of biblical and theological studies at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minn. He has written about Hindu New Religious Movements. Contact 651-638-6400, j-lewis@bethel.edu.
• June McDaniel is a professor of religious studies at the College of Charleston in Charleston, S.C. She focuses on Hindu women’s religious rituals and mysticism and contributed a chapter about Jayashri Ma to The Graceful Guru: Hindu Female Gurus in India and the United States (Oxford University Press, 2004). Contact 843-953-5956, mcdanielj@cofc.edu.
• Vasudha Narayanan is Distinguished Professor of Religion at the University of Florida in Gainesville, and she helped found the university’s Center for the Study of Hindu Traditions, of which she is director. She is a noted scholar of Hinduism and a past president of the American Academy of Religion. Contact 352-392-1625, vasu@ufl.edu.
• Leslie C. Orr is an associate professor of religion at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. One of her areas of specialty is Hinduism in the West. Contact 514-848-2424 ext. 2078, orr@vax2.concordia.ca.
• Norris W. Palmer is an associate professor of religious studies at St. Mary’s College of California in Moraga, Calif. He wrote a chapter on Sai Baba for Gurus in America (State University of New York Press, 2005) and contributed an article in 2006 to Nova Religio on how Hindus use their temples to negotiate their identity in America. Contact 925-631-4799, rpalmer@stmarys-ca.edu.
• Karen Pechilis is a professor of Asian religions at Drew University in Madison, N.J. She edited The Graceful Guru: Hindu Female Gurus in the United States (Oxford University Press, 2004), which covers the American movements behind Ammachi, Anandamayi Ma, Gauri Ma, Gurumayi, Jayashri Ma, Karunamayi Ma, Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati, Mother Meera, Shree Maa and Sita Devi. Contact 973-408-3124, kpechili@drew.edu.
• Stephen R. Prothero is a professor of religion at Boston University. He is co-editor of Asian Religions in America: A Documentary History (Oxford University Press, 1998). Contact 617-353-4426, prothero@bu.edu.
• Selva J. Raj is a professor of religious studies at Albion College in Albion, Mich. He wrote a chapter on Ammachi for Gurus in America (State University of New York Press, 2005). Contact 517-629-0400, sraj@albion.edu.
• Anantanand Rambachan is a professor of religion at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. His areas of expertise include modern Hinduism and Hindus in the diaspora. Contact 507-646-3081, rambacha@stolaf.edu.
• B.V.K. Sastry is a professor at Hindu University of America in Orlando, Fla., where he teaches courses in Hindu practices and principles. Contact sastry@hindu-university.edu.
• K.R. Sundararajan is a professor of theology at St. Bonaventure University in St. Bonaventure, N.Y. He is the co-editor of Hindu Spirituality II: Post-Classical and Modern (Crossroads, 1997). Contact 716-375-2297, sundar@sbu.edu.
• Polly Trout is the author of Eastern Seeds, Western Soil: Three Gurus in America (McGraw Hill, 2000). She lives in Seattle. Contact polly@seattleeducationaccess.org.
• Hugh B. Urban is an associate professor of comparative studies at Ohio State University in Columbus. He contributed a chapter about Osho to Gurus in America (State University of New York Press, 2005). Contact 614-292-9855, urban.41@osu.edu.
• Joanne Punzo Waghorne is a professor of religion at Syracuse University in Syracuse, N.Y. One of her areas of study is guru-centered New Religious Movements in India and abroad, including the U.S. Contact 315-443-5715, jpwaghor@syr.edu.

INTERFAITH RELATIONS

• Brian A. Hatcher is a professor of religion and humanities at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington. He specializes in Hindu-Christian relations and the Hindu religious tradition. Contact 309-556-3160, bhatcher@iwu.edu.
• Eliza F. Kent is an assistant professor of religion at Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y. She is the author of Converting Women: Gender and Protestant Christianity in Colonial South India (Oxford University Press, 2004). Contact 315-228-7688, ekent@mail.colgate.edu.
• Brian K. Pennington is an associate professor of religion at Maryville College in Maryville, Tenn. He has written about Hindu-Christian relations. Contact brian.pennington@maryvillecollege.edu.
• Anantanand Rambachan is a professor of religion at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. His areas of expertise include Hindu-Christian dialogue. Contact 507-646-3081, rambacha@stolaf.edu.
• Robin Rinehart is an associate professor in religious studies at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa. She is an expert in Hindu, Sikh and Muslim relations. Contact 610-330-5179, rineharr@lafayette.edu.

MYSTICISM AND MYTHOLOGY

• Wendy Doniger is a professor of the history of religions at the University of Chicago. She is an expert on the mythology of Hinduism. Contact 773-702-8239, don8@midway.uchicago.edu.
• Meena Rani Khandelwal is an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. She is an expert on Hindu women ascetics. Contact 319-335-2496, meena-khandelwal@uiowa.edu.
• Timothy Lubin is an associate professor of religion at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va. He teaches a course on the deities of Hinduism and another on yogis, ascetics and monks. Contact 540-458-8146, lubint@wlu.edu.
• June McDaniel is a professor of religious studies at the College of Charleston in Charleston, S.C. She is an expert in Indian folk religion, mysticism across cultures and Hindu Shaktism, a form of deity worship. Contact 843-953-5956, mcdanielj@cofc.edu.
• Rachel Fell McDermott is an associate professor in Asian and Middle Eastern cultures at Columbia University in New York, N.Y. She is an expert in the Hindu female deity worship traditions. Contact 212-854-5416, rmcdermo@barnard.edu.
• Laurie L. Patton is a professor of humanities at Emory University in Atlanta. She is an expert in Hindu mythology. Contact 404-727-5177, lpatton@emory.edu.
• Tracy Pintchman is a professor of theology at Loyola University in Chicago. She specializes in women in Hinduism and is an expert on Shaktism, Hindu goddess worship. Contact 773-508-2372, tpintch@luc.edu.

SCRIPTURES

• Mandakranta Bose is a professor emerita at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. She is an expert on the Ramayana. Contact 604-822-6463, mbose@interchange.ubc.ca.
• Edwin F. Bryant is an associate professor of religion at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. He teaches workshops in the Bhagavad-Gita and the Yoga Sutras. Contact 732-932-3289, edbryant@rci.rutgers.edu.
• Kuldip C. Gupta is a professor of Hinduism at Hindu University of America in Orlando, Fla., where he teaches a course in the Bhagavad-Gita. Contact gupta@hindu-university.edu.
• Vasudha Narayanan is Distinguished Professor of Religion at the University of Florida in Gainesville, and she helped found the university’s Center for the Study of Hindu Traditions, of which she is director. She is a noted scholar of Hinduism and a past president of the American Academy of Religion. Contact 352-392-1625, vasu@ufl.edu.
• Laurie L. Patton is a professor of humanities at Emory University in Atlanta. She has translated a forthcoming edition of the Bhagavad-Gita for Penguin Press. Contact 404-727-5177, lpatton@emory.edu.
• Paula Richman is a professor of religion at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. She is an expert on the Hindu epics, especially the Ramayana. She is on academic leave for 2006-07. Contact 440-775-8532, paula.richman@oberlin.edu.
• Bruce M. Sullivan is a professor of religious studies at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. He teaches a course on the Hindu epics. Contact 520-523-0244, bruce.sullivan@nau.edu.
• Katherine K. Young is a professor of Hinduism at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. She specializes in comparative ethics between the religions of South India. Contact 514-398-1511, katherine.young@mcgill.ca.

WOMEN IN HINDUISM

• Carol S. Anderson is an associate professor in the departments of religion and women’s studies at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Mich. She wrote a chapter about Gauri Ma in The Graceful Guru: Hindu Female Gurus in India and the United States (Oxford University Press, 2004). Contact 269-337-7114, anderson@kzoo.edu.
• Loriliai Biernacki is an assistant professor of religious studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her research interests include Tantrism. She wrote about Shree Maa for The Graceful Guru: Hindu Female Gurus in India and the United States (Oxford University Press, 2004). Contact 303-492-8041, loriliai.biernacki@colorado.edu.
• Catherine Cornille is an associate professor of theology at Boston University. She wrote about Mother Meera in The Graceful Guru: Hindu Female Gurus in India and the United States (Oxford University Press, 2004). Contact 617-552-3896, catherine.cornille@bu.edu.
• Kathleen M. Erndl is an associate professor of religion at Florida State University in Tallahassee. She has written about gender issues and the worship of female deities. Contact 850-644-0207, kerndl@mailer.fsu.edu.
• Lisa Lassell Halstrom is a professor of religious studies at Mount Holyoke College in South Halsted, Mass. She wrote a chapter on Anandamayi Ma for The Graceful Guru: Hindu Female Gurus in India and the United States (Oxford University Press, 2004). Contact through department assistant Anna May Dion, 413-538-2233, amdion@mtholyoke.edu.
• Lindsey B. Harlan is a professor of religious studies at Connecticut College in New London. She is an expert on Hindu marriage. Contact 860-439-2167, lindsey.harlan@conncoll.edu.
• Meena Rani Khandelwal is an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. She is an expert on Hindu women ascetics. Contact 319-335-2496, meena-khandelwal@uiowa.edu.
• Rebecca J. Manring is an associate professor of India studies and religious studies at Indiana University. She contributed a chapter on Sita Devi to The Graceful Guru: Hindu Female Gurus in India and the United States (Oxford University Press, 2004). Contact 812-855-6756, rmanring@indiana.edu.
• Nancy M. Martin is an associate professor of ethics in the religious studies department at Chapman University in Orange, Calif. She teaches a course in gender in world religions and can discuss the role of women in Hinduism. Contact 714-997-6608, nmartin@chapman.edu.
• Vasudha Narayanan is Distinguished Professor of Religion at the University of Florida in Gainesville, and she helped found the university’s Center for the Study of Hindu Traditions, of which she is director. She is a noted scholar of Hinduism and a past president of the American Academy of Religion. Contact 352-392-1625, vasu@ufl.edu.
• June McDaniel is a professor of religious studies at the College of Charleston in Charleston, S.C. She focuses on Hindu women’s religious rituals and mysticism and contributed a chapter about Jayashri Ma to The Graceful Guru: Hindu Female Gurus in India and the United States (Oxford University Press, 2004). Contact 843-953-5956, mcdanielj@cofc.edu.
• Vasudha Narayanan is a professor of religion at the University of Florida in Gainesville. She wrote a chapter on female gurus and deities in The Graceful Guru: Hindu Female Gurus in India and the United States (Oxford University Press, 2004). Contact 352-392-1625, vasu@ufl.edu.

YOGA, MEDITATION, TANTRISM AND OTHER PRACTICES

• Loriliai Biernacki is an assistant professor of religious studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her research interests include Tantrism. Contact 303-492-8041, loriliai.biernacki@colorado.edu.
• Douglas R. Brooks is a religion professor at the University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y. He has written two books about Tantrism. Contact 585-275-9369, dbrk@troi.cc.rochester.edu.
• Edwin F. Bryant is an associate professor of religion at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., where he teaches courses in Hindu philosophy and religion. He also teaches workshops in the Yoga Sutras. Contact 732-932-3289, edbryant@rci.rutgers.edu.
• Subhas R. Tiwari is a professor of yoga and meditation at the Hindu University of America in Orlando, Fla. Contact tiwari@hindu-university.edu.
• Hugh B. Urban is an associate professor of comparative studies at Ohio State University in Columbus. He is working on a book about Tantrism. Contact 614-292- 9855, urban.41@osu.edu.

Organizations

The South Asian Journalists Association posts links to Hindu community leaders across the United States and provides resources on legal issues, immigration, and hate crimes as they relate to South Asians, including Hindus.

THINK TANKS AND UNIVERSITY CENTERS

• The American Institute of Indian Studies is a consortium of universities and colleges in the United States at which scholars actively engage in teaching and research about India. It is at the University of Chicago.
• The Center for the Study of Hindu Traditions is at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
• Hindu University of America in Orlando, Fla., is the only university in the West entirely dedicated to the study of all things Hindu.
• The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies in Oxford, England, is one of the largest and most comprehensive centers for the study of Hinduism in the West.

NATIONAL POLITICAL, CULTURAL AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS

• The Hindu American Foundation is a nondenominational human rights organization that works with governments, media, think tanks, academia and the public on issues of concern to Hindus around the world. It is based in Washington, D.C., and the executive director is Ishani Chowdhury. Contact 877-281-2838 or 301-770-7835.
• The Hindu Education Foundation is a nonprofit organization that promotes understanding of Hinduism. The group was a major plaintiff in the California textbook controversy. It maintains chapters in several states. Contact Khanderao Kand, 408-737-7930, media@hindueducation.org.
• The Hindu Students Council describes itself as “an international forum that provides opportunities to learn about Hindu heritage through various activities, events and projects” on college campuses in the United States and abroad. It maintains a chapter list of member groups on various U.S. campuses.
• The Hindu Temple Society of North America is based within the Ganesh Temple in Flushing, N.Y. Its president is Uma Mysorekar. Contact 718-460-8484.
• The Network of Hindu Minds is an organization of professionals of various religions and backgrounds who want to live their lives according to Hindu philosophy and ayurveda.
• The Vedic Foundation is a nonprofit that works “to re-establish the greatness of Hinduism.” The foundation, which is based in Austin, Texas, was a major plaintiff in the California textbook controversy. Contact 512-965-4590, theteam@thevedicfoundation.org.
• The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) of America is an organization that works to promote Hinduism among transplanted Hindis and to educate others about the religion. It maintains a number of chapters throughout the U.S. Its president is Jyotish Parekh. Contact Shyam Tiwari, national coordinator of public relations and media, 770-752-3358 (work), 770-232-0939 (cell), srtiwari@hotmail.com.

SUMMER CAMPS AND OTHER YOUTH ACTIVITIES

• Hindu Heritage Summer Camp is a summer camp program designed to help Hindu youth reconcile their religion with what it means to be an American. It is an example of one of many Hindu camps across the country. The India Community Center in Rochester, N.Y., runs it. Contact the camp president, Padmanabh Kamath, 585-381-1541.
• Hindu Ideal Youth Camp is based in Stroudsburg, Pa. Contact 903-457-0200.
• The Hindu Students Council runs a summer camp for Hindu college students. Contact Darshan Soni, 574-329-4238, darshan.soni@hscnet.org.
• The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) of America maintains a page of summer camps of camps that feature the teachings of Vivekananda.

Leaders and religious centers

GURUS IN AMERICA

• A number of religious teachers have migrated from India to America, and a few are American-born. Here is a list of the more prominent gurus who have roots in Hinduism and have large followings in the United States as well as around the world.
• Adi Da Samraj is the American-born guru who founded Adidam, a New Religious Movement based on Hinduism.
• Ammachi is also known as the “hugging saint.” Her main ashram is in New York City.
• Gurumayi Chidvilasananda is the leader of Siddha Yoga, which was founded by Baba Muktananda. There are ashrams and meditation centers around the world. In the U.S. there are ashrams in New York, Boston and Oakland, Calif.
• Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is credited with bringing Transcendental Meditation to the West. TM was a major component of the counterculture movement of the 1960s and had many celebrity adherents, including the Beatles and Mia Farrow. Since 9/11, the Maharishi has been guiding his followers to create “the Maharishi effect,” a power they believe can be found in collective meditation that can be used for good.
• Osho (formerly known as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh) was an Indian-born guru who taught a mixture of Hinduism and other word religions and was known for developing forms of active meditation. Before his death in 1990, he appointed several followers to run about 20 ashrams around the world. Friends of Osho lists Osho centers worldwide. Osho World is a site devoted to the guru’s teachings.
• Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi was an Indian-born Hindu guru whose teachings of self-examination influenced many modern teachers of Hinduism in the West. He died in 1950. The main U. S. ashram is in Jamaica, N.Y.
• Sai Baba is an Indian-born guru who claims between 6 million and 100 million adherents and 130 centers around the world. He teaches the unity of all world religions as different paths to the same God. Sai Baba’s followers credit him with many miracles.
• A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, known as ISKCON. He died in 1977, but ISKCON survives.
• Karunamayi Ma is an India-based guru who travels in the U.S. She is next scheduled to tour the U.S. from April through July 2007.
• Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati is a Jewish-born convert to Hinduism who is now a guru based in the Kashi Ashram in Sebastian, Fla.
• Mother Meera is an India-based guru with an ashram in Colorado.

HINDU TEACHERS AND CLERGY

• Pravrajika Vrajaprana is a nun at the Vedanta Society of Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara, Calif. She says two issues confronting contemporary Hinduism are how it is practiced differently outside of India, and how Hindus identify themselves – as Hindus or Indians or citizens of the countries in which they live now. Those answers can affect the way they practice the religion and how they pass it on to their children. Contact info@vedanta.org.
• Gautam Jain is a teacher of Vedanta based at the Vedanta Cultural Foundation in Somerset, N.J. Contact 732-993-3358, gautam@vedantausa.org.
• Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami is the spiritual leader of the Saiva Siddhanta Church and publisher of Hinduism Today, a magazine of global Hinduism, which is published at Kauai’s Hindu Monastery in Kapaa, Hawaii. Contact via the magazine’s editorial office, 808-822-7032 ext. 227.
• Venkatachalpathi Samuldrala is a priest at the Greater Cleveland Hindu Shiva Vishnu Temple in Cleveland. He was the first Hindu priest to deliver a prayer before Congress. Contact 440-888-9433.
• Utpala Balarama Krishnamacharyulu is a priest at the Hindu Temple of Wisconsin in Pewaukee. Contact 262-695-1200.
• Naranji Durlabhji Pandya is the temple priest at the Hindu American Religious Institute in New Cumberland, Pa. Contact 717-774-7750.
• Swami Yogatmananda is the priest of the Vedanta Society of Providence. Contact 401-421-3960.
• Sri Ramachandraji is a temple priest at the Bharatiya Temple of Metropolitan Detroit. The temple broke ground on an expansion in fall 2006. Contact 248-879-2552.
• Yogindra Vandana das Adhikari is president of the ISKCON New Talavan Community in Carriere, Miss. Contact 601-749-9460, talavan@hughes.net.

DIRECTORIES OF U.S. HINDU TEMPLES AND MONASTERIES

• IndiaNET.com maintains a state-by-state directory of Hindu temples in the United States.
• HinduMandir.US maintains a list of Hindu temples in the United States and features photographs of the different American Hindu statues of deities.
• Harvard University’s Pluralism Project maintains a directory of Hindu religious centers in the United States.

ASHRAMS AND RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES

• Barsana Dham is an ashram outside Austin, Texas. It is the main U.S. center of Shree Swamiji, an Indian-born guru.
• Kashi Interfaith Ashram is a Hindu-oriented ashram in Sebastian, Fla. It is the home of Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati.
• Mother Meera Home Colorado is the U.S. ashram of Mother Meera, located in Boulder, Colo.

Beliefs and scriptures

PHILOSOPHY AND BELIEFS

• There is no single Hinduism. “Hinduism has never been a ‘creed’ with a set of beliefs,” writes Harvard University’s Diana Eck, “but rather a culture and way of life.” It is the third-largest organized religion in the world. Hindus believe in one transcendent Supreme Being, reincarnation and karma. In the 1980s and 1990s, the editors of Hinduism Today attempted to summarize nine core beliefs of Hinduism for non-Hindu readers encountering the faith for the first time.
• Beliefnet.com posts a summary of the nine basic beliefs of Hinduism and the five obligations of all Hindus.

SCRIPTURES

Hindus hold a variety of writings sacred:

• Vedas – These are the primary texts of Hinduism and are among the oldest sacred texts in all the world’s religions, with the oldest of them composed about 1500 B.C. There are four Vedas: the Rig Veda, the Sama Veda, the Yajur Veda and the Atharva Veda.
• Upanishads – These are mystical texts often written in the form of dialogues between deities and men. They were composed between 400 and 200 B.C. Sacred-Texts.com has an online translation by Max Müller.
• The Puranas - The Puranas are a narrative of the history of the cosmos from creation to destruction. There are 17 or 18 divided into categories named for the Hindu deities Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Sacred-Texts.com has an online translation of the Vishnu Purana by Horace Hayman Wilson, the Garuda Purana by Ernest Wood and S.V. Subrahmanyam, the S’r îmad Devî Bhâgawatam by Swami Vijnanananda, the Devî Gita by Swami Vijnanananada and the Prem Sagur of Lallu Lal by W. Hollings.
• The Mahabharata is an ancient religious epic originally composed in Sanskrit. It tells of the many adventures of Krishna.
• The Bhagavad-Gita – This epic is actually book six of the Mahabharata, but often stands on its own. It is told as a dialogue between Krishna and the soldier Arjuna on a battlefield before the fighting begins. It was composed about 200 B.C. Sacred-Texts.com has an online translation by Edwin Arnold.
• The Ramayana – An epic tale of the adventures of the deity Rama who fights to free his love, Sita, from the hold of Ravan, the King of Ceylon. Sacred-Texts.com has an online translation y Ralph T.H. Griffith.

HINDU SECTS

Scholars categorize Hinduism into three or, sometimes, four groups:

• Vaishnavism (worship of the deity Vishnu); Approximately 80 percent of the world’s Hindus are Vaishnavites
• Shaivism (worship of the deity Shiva)
• Shaktism (worship of the deity Devi)

• and sometimes Smartism.

NORTH AMERICAN RESOURCES

• Bochasanwasi Shree Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) is a socio-spiritual religious community with its roots in the Vedas and in the Gujarat region of India. It has a directory of congregations in the U.S.
• Chinmaya Mission West is the North American branch of the worldwide Vedanta movement founded in 1975.
• Integral Yoga International is an international yoga community based in the U.S. at Swami Satchidananda’s Yogaville ashram in Buckingham, Va.
• International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), or Hare Krishna, was founded in 1966. The group traces its religious heritage back 5,000 years ago to Krishna’s birth. They revere the 16th-century guru Caitanya Mahaprabu as an incarnation of Krishna. Mahaprabu taught that Lord Krishna is the principle deity and that everyone can regain a personal relationship with Krishna through sankirtana, the group chanting of God’s names, especially the Hare Krishna mantra. The Bhagavad-Gita is their sacred text. They worship Krishna as the Supreme God. Jesus is revered as a representative of Krishna. The group claims more than 1 million members worldwide and has its head office in Los Angeles. It publishes a bimonthly magazine, Back to Godhead.
• Sri Vaishnava is a Web site devoted to the deity Vishnu and his worship.
• Shaivam.org is a Web site dedicated to all things regarding worship of the deity Shiva.
• Vedanta is a philosophy founded on the Vedas, one of the sacred scriptures of India. It was popularized in the west by Swami Vivekenanda in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. The Pluralism Project features a report by Clare Giles on the history and growth of Vedanta Societies in the United States. It charts numerous changes within the societies since the influx of South Asian immigrants since 1965. The Vedanta Society of Southern California maintains a list of Vedanta Centers throughout the U.S.

Background

• Hindupedia is a Wiki-style online encyclopedia of Hindusim.
• The Hindu Students Council maintains a detailed page of descriptions of Hindu saints and sages.

• Vasudha Narayanan of the University of Florida in Gainesville maintains a Web site that explains the beliefs and traditions of Hinduism and contains pictures and descriptions of Hindu temples in the U.S. and around the world.

ARTICLES

• Read an Aug. 10, 2007, Chicago Tribune story (posted by the Houston Chronicle) about a 2007 report that chronicles violence against Hindus worldwide.