Harris's ancestral Indian village prays for her victory

An unassuming village about 8,000 miles from Washington is observing the US presidential election with interest due to its ties with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

- ALISHA RAHAMAN, SARKAR VISHWAM SANKARAN

A Hindu temple in the vice-president’s ancestral village in India’s Tamil Nadu state held prayers on election day for her victory over Republican rival Donald Trump. Billboards wishing Ms Harris luck ahead of the crucial polls adorned the lanes of Thulasendrapuram, an idyllic rural haven surrounded by rice paddy fields about 217 miles from the state capital Chennai.

Born to an Indian mother and Jamaican father in Oakland, California, Ms Harris primarily embraced her Black identity but periodically remembered her Asian roots and her time spent in Chennai as an infant. G Manikandan, a villager who runs a small store near the temple, said “celebrations will follow if she wins” as a large banner outside the temple wished “the daughter of the land” success.

Outside the 300-year-old Hindu temple, a black stone table features the name of Ms Harris along with major donors. According to locals, a relative made a record donation of Rs 5,000 (£46.50) in her name in 2014 when she was serving as California’s attorney general.