A stolen 12th century bronze Buddha statue was returned to India by the London Metropolitan Police on 15 August, coinciding with India’s 72nd Independence Day ceremony held at the High Commission of India in London. The 16-and-a-half-centimeter bronze is one of 14 statues that were stolen from the Archaeological Museum in Nalanda, Bihar, in 1961.

CAIRO: Islamic state leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in his first purported speech in nearly a year, has called on followers to persevere, according to a statement posted on the group's media outlet.

NEW DELHI—The 6th International Buddhist Conclave opened in New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan convention center on Thursday, hosted by the Ministry of Tourism, who partnered with the government of Japan as their co-organizer. The theme of this year’s conference is: “Buddha Path—The Living Heritage,” with a focus on India’s Buddhist tourism circuit.

Small, camera-carrying robots helped archaeologists in Peru discover three new underground passageways holding ceramics, tools and human remains at the more than 3,000 year-old Chavin de Huantar temple in the Andes, Peru’s culture ministry said.

The government agency in charge of religious affairs in China confirmed on Wednesday that the abbot of the Longquan Temple in Beijing had sent sexually harassing messages to nuns.

The relentless rains, floods and landslides since August 8 have claimed the lives of at least 190 people in southern India's Kerala state, and the figure is expected to rise as rains continue. Over 314,000 people have been moved to nearly 2,100 relief camps across the state.

More than 2 million Muslims from around the globe on Sunday started the hajj pilgrimage at Islam's holiest sites in Saudi Arabia, one of the world's largest annual gatherings.

Muslims around the world marked the Eid Al-Adha holiday on Tuesday, gathering at mosques or in vast open sites to celebrate one of the two most important festivals of the Islamic calendar.

The pilgrimage is becoming increasingly smart, with high-tech applications helping the faithful navigate Islam’s holiest sites.

Two-thirds of Russians are convinced that there is a group of people who want to rewrite Russian history, and about the same number of people believe there is an organization whose purpose is to destroy Russia's spiritual values, showed a poll conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM), which shared the results with Interfax on Monday.

RIYADH, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabian Health Ministry has confirmed that the current Hajj season is so far free of epidemic and quarantine diseases among pilgrims, Akhbariya local TV reported on Friday.

As Thailand’s economy develops and grows, maintaining the delicate ecological balance remains a major challenge. As a consequence of extensive deforestation and widespread dam projects, the country is regularly affected by both flooding and droughts, but some Buddhist monks are actively working to protect the environment by integrating Buddhist principals with environmental awareness, consulting with government officials about environmental problems, and implementing sustainability projects, such as installing solar panels at Buddhist temples and helping villagers fashion environmentally friendly cottages out of mud and other naturally available materials. 

Church and secular organizations back tree planting to protect the environment

Neolithic ceremonial monuments and Iron Age settlements exposed beneath parched yellow grass

British police have returned a 12th Century Buddha statue stolen in India 57 years ago.