This is the Nasir al-Mulk Mosque in Shiraz, Iran, and must be one of the most striking mosques because of it’s amazing color, or what the Huffington Post calls, its “riotous wonderland of color”  The Post has more amazing photographs that you should see. Islamic art shies away from figural representation. In fact, religious leaders forbid the depiction of human and animal figures. Consequently, calligraphy and geometric patterns became popular.  You can see the geometric patterns in the features of the... Read more

The blue and white 13th century bowl above, which is from Iran, is just one of many highlights of a new exhibit at the Dallas Museum called  “Nur: Light in Art and Science from the Islamic World.“ That exhibit will open on March 31 and will explore “the use and meaning of light in Islamic art and science, and demonstrate how light is a unifying motif in Islamic civilizations worldwide,” according to a review from Art Dubai. The New York... Read more

Studying Judaism? Do you know what a tallit is? This Religion and Ethics Newsweekly clip explains that a tallit is a Jewish prayer shawl and the fringes, called the tzitzit,”represent God’s 613 commandments to the Jews.” Read more

What’s Hola Mahalla?  It’s a Sikh festival that usually occurs in March after the Hindu festival of color, Holi. According to BBC Religion, it started as “a day for Sikhs to practise their military exercises and hold mock battles.” But today, “Sikhs celebrate by watching and partaking in martial arts parades, led by the nishan sahibs of the Gurdwaras. These are followed by poetry readings and music.” The Huffington Post has some great photos, (the top photograph came from the... Read more

How secular is New York City?  Not very, according to a small group called “A Journey Through NYC Religions.” They are attempting to document every religious institution in the city and in the process are discovering the city’s pluralism and “the vibrancy of religious life.” And they help tell the remarkable story of immigration.The group’s website is called” NYC Houses of Worship,” which you can visit here. Read more

Here’s a trailer for a new documentary about the world’s largest gathering of humanity which occurred in India last year in a religious festival called Kumbh Mela. The festival happens every twelve years at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers. Hindus believe that bathing in the water will wash away their sins and help bring salvation. As I wrote last year, over 100,000,000 Hindus gathered there last year. The documentary is called Faith Connections and was written and... Read more

Ever wonder how Buddhist monks make those elegant and intricate mandalas?  Last month, a group of monks agreed to construct a mandala for the Arthur Ross Gallery at Asia Society Museum in New York. You can watch as the monks trace the outline of a cosmic chart. Next, according to the Asia Society , the monks begin a “drawing process,”which utilizes metal funnels known as chak-pur. Colored sand is scooped into these funnels and, using scrapers, monks add the sand... Read more

Holi is the Hindu festival that marks the beginning of Spring, usually in March. And, as you can see in the photograph above, Holi is a colorful festival with lots of powder paint and colored water. Indeed,  Holi is known as the festival of colors.  According to the BBC, Holi also commemorates Krishna and the legend of Holika and Prahlad. Here are some Holi songs from Bollywood movies. Read more