Swapna Raina grabbed the few belongings she could hold in her hands. It was the middle of the night in November 1989 when she left home in northern India’s strife-torn Kashmir Valley, escaping religious persecution for her Hindu faith.

Raina, 56, relocated to Prince George’s County and then settled in Elkridge, in Howard County, where she has lived for more than two decades. It’s where she and her husband raised their two children, now adults. It’s also where she found community among the growing Indian population in Howard County.

Koreans were once Howard County’s predominant Asian group, making up an estimated 3.6% of its residents in 2009. But over the past 15 years, the census tracts that former Gov. Larry Hogan and others long identified with Korean residents and businesses have seen that population dwindle while the Indian population surged.

In a census tract just north of Ellicott City — Hogan, whose wife is Korean, officially dubbed part of it “Koreatown” in 2021 — Koreans once made up 10.9% of the inhabitants while Indians made up 5.7%. That dynamic has flipped. Indians now make up almost 24.8% of the tract and Koreans account for 4%.

The trend is countywide. The number of Howard County’s Indian residents has more than doubled since 2009, now accounting for 6.7% of the county’s total population. Koreans currently make up 3.8%.

Raina left her parents and brother behind and came to the U.S. alone. Her grandfather was killed during the violence that plagued her hometown.

“I left everything, and I’ve never been back,” she said.

Moving to Howard County has been healing, she said: Families gather at one another’s houses in the evenings, squatting on the floor, listening to Hindi songs, sharing cups of tea, singing karaoke and sharing native dishes. Over the years, they’ve watched their children grow up together and become lifelong friends.

“There’s a hole in my heart that I cannot go back home. I yearn to go back to my roots” Raina said. “It feels good to have Indians around. Everybody is welcoming.”

Inside Ganesh Brothers, an Indian grocery store off Rogers Avenue in Ellicott City, Aanal Patel smiled as she shared memories she has made with her 2-year-old son since moving nearby from Atlanta in 2022.

Patel, who is Indian, said Ganesh Brothers hosted a Ganesh Chaturthi festival right outside the store, attracting a large crowd. She wore a pink and yellow dress with sparkles, and her son wore a Kurta Pajama set as they sang along to devotional music in the presence of a Ganesha idol.

“The setup was just like back home,” she said. “It was very familiar and easy to make my son understand.”

Patel said she and her husband moved to Howard County for business. Her husband owns multiple liquor stores there.

Rakesh Patel, who has lived in Ellicott City for over a decade, said he’s noticed an increase in the migration of Indians.

“I’ve seen them move in every year,” he said. “The people who are coming in know the proximity to Indian restaurants and Indian stores. There’s a free public school system and Indians prioritize good education. That’s what brings them to these places.”

Businesses in Howard County, such as Triveni Supermarket, have seen a boom in Indian customers, said Samhidhaa Badam, a cashier at Triveni. She said most customers are families from the states of Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.

The growing South Asian population in the area influenced changes at Lotte Plaza Market in Catonsville, just over the Baltimore County line. Sagir Kazi, owner of Biryani and Bakers, said the market’s management sought an Indian restaurant to replace a Korean one that previously occupied a spot there.

“They said they were looking for someone to open a restaurant that would serve the Indian and Asian community,” Kazi said.

Safa Hira, a spokeswoman for Howard County, said that the “community benefits from the contributions and traditions of our Korean, Indian and other Asian and Pacific Islander residents.”

The Indian community isn’t the only Asian one growing quickly in Howard County. The number of Chinese people has more than doubled since 2009, now accounting for 4% of the county’s population, surpassing the Korean population.

Chinese have become the second-most-populous Asian group in Howard County.

Hira said Ellicott City’s “Koreatown” designation originated in 2019 after an initiative by the Koreatown Planning Committee Board to honor the positive Korean impact on Ellicott City’s development, especially along Route 40.

Sanjay Srivastava, president of the Indian Cultural Association of Howard County, a nonprofit organization, said the organization celebrates Indian culture throughout Howard County and works to preserve it for future generations.

The association has distributed 3.5 million pounds of food in Howard County since 2020, Srivastava said.

The organization hosts many parades and festivals, the most popular being the annual Festival of India, when Indians from near and far — young and old — dress in traditional garments, watch parades, and immerse themselves in music, food and culture.

“It attracts over 20,000 people,” Srivastava said. “A third of them are not Indian.”

Raina is on the association’s board, where she volunteers weekly, assists with food drives and helps host mental health workshops.

“I’ve been able to rebuild my life and give back to the community,” she said.

For Raina, Howard County is her “Karma Bhoomi,” her land of “action and purpose.”

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