The Hindu Heritage Day celebrations held on May 24 attracted over a 1000 people. The mela included traditional outdoor activities including kite flying and a grand cultural program. The event was held in Marlboro Middle School in Marlboro, MA.

The broad hallways of Marlboro Middle School thronged with people where there was a mixture of vendors and non profit organizations. There were well attended booths of vendors that displayed items that included jewelry, Indian dresses, bangles, novel food items, artifacts, pictures, and educational books.

Information was available on summer camps, work being done by non profit organizations, yoga and meditation retreat sessions, dance and music schools programs. " We at Mass Bay Community college are planning to offer courses in Vedic Studies, Hindi and Sanskrit" said Dr. Mona Khaitan, who as a professor at Mass Bay Community college has worked hard to change the curriculum.One could hear little children getting some wonderful insights into the lives of different Hindu Saints that was featured on many posters.


The main event for the evening was  the cultural program with Ruchi Munshi and Vani Manchanda serving as MCees for the event. The program opened with Shank Nada and Deep Prajjwalan followed by Ekta Mantra.  Purusha Sukhtam was presented by the students of Acton Shloka class students led by Guru Aruna Shankaranarayanan. VHPA Bal Vihar in Southboro presented Shlokas that included their daily prayers and Lingashtakam.

Namami - an invocation to Lord Ganesha was presented in Odissi style by the students of Anuradha Patolawalat. Dronacharya Balagokulum presented a skit on National Integration.   "Push Toder Daak Diyeche", a Bengali folk dance choreographed by  Priya Yadav was presented by the youngest class of Southboro Bal Vihar.

Sapna Krishnan's students presented "Salutation to the elements" which was set to Pt Ravi Shankar's conmposition while Jayashree Bala Rajamani's students presented Dhimitha Dhimitha Dhim a song dedicated to the dance of Shiva. Devotional songs were presented by the NESSP kids. Shiva Vandana was presented by the students of Sangarika Kanjilal. Thodaya Mangalam  and Thillana was presented by the students of Sridevi Thirumalai. Iskon presented a play titled Me and My mind.

The theme of the program this year was Mandirs of North American and  a beautiful presentation about the architecture of the temples in the United States was a highlight of the evening.

Food booths had mouth watering delicacies. At the close of the event there was a raffle where drawings were held for gifts that were donated by Citi Bank and Sounds of India.

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