Heritage India

Heritage India, an organization sponsored by SHAMA, Inc., helps families stay in touch with India's culture. People who have adopted children from India or who have immigrated from India want to learn about India's customs, teach their children about their roots, and celebrate together. Heritage India helps them do just that, while having fun together.

The group meets weekly at the university to learn Indian folk dancing (Banghra), and the children have performed at several functions. Indian cooking classes are in demand with the families as well. And members of Heritage India help with planning and running the annual Festival of India.

In addition to other meetings, members of this group celebrate some Indian festivals together, such as:

Diwali is celebrated by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs as the "Festival of Light," where the lights or lamps signify victory of good over the evil within every human being.
Rakhi, a Hindu festival, celebrates the relationship between brothers and sisters.
Holi, also called the Festival of Colors, is a Hindu spring festival. The first day of the Festival is celebrated with bonfires at night, signifying the triumph of good over evil. The second day people throw colors at each other, originally for avoiding the diseases prevalent in spring.

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