Although it originated as a Christian holiday in honor of St. Valentine, Valentine’s Day has become a global celebration of romantic love, observed by people of many religions and of no religion.
Other religions have long had their own myths centered on love. I have observed, in my work as a scholar of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, that in Hindu traditions, there are many stories of divine couples: deities who embody the ideal of love, and whose stories often contain lessons for the rest of us. One couple that has especially captured the imagination of Hindu devotees for centuries is Radha and Krishna.
