Lauren Frayer

The world's biggest gathering of human beings, Kumbh Mela, starts Tuesday in India. Pilgrims dip in sacred waters at the confluence of 3 rivers. Up to 120 million people are expected through March.

Protests erupted across south India after women sneaked into a temple that banned females old enough to menstruate. The temple is part of a debate between gender equality and religious freedom.

In Kerala, a part of India known as "land of coconuts," male coconut pickers are turning to other jobs. Women are among the new trainees.

No women ages 10 to 50 have been able to reach the temple since the ruling in September. "I'll block younger women with my own body if I have to," says a woman who waited until age 53 to visit.

A Roman Catholic nun says a bishop raped her multiple times between 2014 and 2016. The bishop denies wrongdoing and is out on bail. Some Indian Catholics are blaming the nun for tarnishing the church.

Nearly 10 years have passed since more than 160 people were killed in the Mumbai terror attacks. They lasted four days and left residents and foreign tourists traumatized.

Couples who marry against their parents' wishes sometimes risk their lives in doing so. That's where the Love Commandos come in. They run 500 safe houses and help couples elope or hide from relatives.

Indian media has identified the man as either an "adventure tourist" or a Christian missionary who landed on remote and restricted North Sentinel in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Each fall, Indian farmers burn the stubble of rice plants — a fast way to clear fields. But the smoke adds to India's awful air pollution.

Just three weeks after being sworn in, Mahinda Rajapksa faced a hostile parliament with a majority of lawmakers still loyal to his predecessor, Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Women across India have recently been going public about sexual assault and harassment. Many say they draw strength from the struggle of one woman: Bhanwari Devi.

A Bollywood actress pilloried 10 years ago for complaining about sexual harassment is now reviving her complaint against a famous actor — and finding support from India's new #MeToo movement.

They were separated in the chaos after the earthquake and tsunami. There's still hope that families can be reunited — but many obstacles loom.

As recovery from the Indonesian earthquake and tsunami stretches into a second week, more supplies are making their way to the disaster zone. But that doesn't mean the aid is reaching areas most in need.

The world's biggest biometric system, with iris scans of 1.2 billion people, was designed to help the poor. But it has sparked concerns about privacy and in some cases has exacerbated starvation.

The five justices said the law is unconstitutional because it "treats a husband as the master." The ruling comes barely two weeks after the high court decriminalized gay sex.

The 20-foot-tall stainless steel cube was decorated with life-size human statues and semi-submerged in a coral lagoon. The artwork was criticized because it depicted human figures.

For 10 days, they sing, dance, chant and pray at the feet of Ganesh statues, then submerge them in water. The festival was once used to circumvent British rule.

India is the world's biggest consumer of palm oil, a crop which threatens the country's water supply and is linked to deforestation. But the government faces little opposition to expand plantations.

Some fans of Carnatic singing, a type of South Indian classical music rooted in Hinduism, are angry with performers who've adapted and performed Christian songs.