Harvard Dharma Dances In the Year With Hungama

Hundreds of Harvard affiliates and residents gathered at Smith Campus Center for Harvard Dharma’s annual Hungama on Thursday evening to celebrate Navaratri, a nine-day Hindu festival honoring three Hindu goddesses.

The event, hosted across three floors in the Smith commons, featured traditional dances, food, and a photo booth. Before the event began, Dharma — a Hindu student organization — hosted a workshop to teach attendees how to dance Garba, a circular dance originating from the Gujarat state of India.

Throughout the night, attendees shedded their shoes and joined in to dances like the Dandiya Raas, an energetic dance that involves hitting sticks with a partner.

Over 450 people registered to attend the event, according to Dharma co-presidents Vishnu S. Emani ’26 and Amiya E. Tiwari ’26, who added that attendees came from around the Greater Boston area and from as far as Providence, R.I.

Emani said the event was funded through a combination of grants and ticket revenue, though tickets were free for Harvard College students.

Though last year’s Hungama was held in Northwest Labs, Tiwari added, the event moved back to Smith Campus Center because of its more central location.

Smith gave the space to Dharma for free, which “made this a lot more accessible for us as a student group,” she added.

The cavernous space was decorated with garlands of marigolds, lights, and rangoli, patterns typically made of sand but improvised with duct tape on the floor. Gujarati folk music played throughout the event.

“Seeing everyone dancing just makes me so happy and proud of how much we've grown as a community, especially since COVID really wiped out a lot of religious groups on campus,” Tiwari said.

Many students said Dharma and Hungama give them an opportunity to connect with their faith at Harvard.

“I’m half Indian, and I didn't grow up in a place with a lot of Indians in my high school,” Rahul A.J. Yates ’27, one of Dharma’s worship chairs, said.

Last year’s Hungama was his first introduction to dancing Garba, he said, adding that this year, he helped lead the event’s aarti — a worship ritual where a lit candle is waved in front of a deity.

“I've not only learned about my own religion, but also met so many amazing people through Dharma,” Yates said.

Dharma also welcomed attendees who are not Hindu. Arielle C. Frommer ’25, a Crimson Arts editor, attended Hungama for the first time this year, explaining she has “a lot of friends in the community.”

‘It’s so special to get to dance with everyone,” Frommer said. “I’m getting kind of tired but like in a good way.”

—Staff writer Rachael A. Dziaba can be reached at rachael.dziaba@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @rachaeldziaba.