There are currently at least eight Indian-Americans running for Congress or statewide office, which may be a record, according to this Associated Press report in June 2010.

Read an Aug. 23, 2010, story in The Washington Post about Indian concerns over “yoga theft” by American practitioners.

Read an Aug. 27, 2010, story in The New York Times about the growing belief in reincarnation.

In The Daily Beast, Indian author Gita Mehta wrote about Eat Pray Love and the attractions and perils for Westerners of “spiritual tourism” in India.

Read an essay at the website Patheos about Julia Roberts and the appeal of Hinduism and Eastern religions throughout American history. The article is by Suhag Shukla, co-founder of the Hindu American Foundation.

The Gay and Lesbian Vaishnava Association is an organization for LGBT Hindus and Viashnavas both in the U.S. and around the world. Contact through the form on its website.

William K. Mahony is a religion professor at Davidson College in Davidson, N.C. He is an expert in contemplative and Vedic Hinduism.

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.

The World Christian Database at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary provides statistics on world religions, denominations, and groups. It estimates that there are slightly more than 1.1 million Hindus in America.