The Kara Heritage Institute, promoting an African Renaissance
By promoting the cultural heritage and values of Karaism, the Kara Heritage Institute is committed to growing sustainable and empowered communities.
Karaism is the ancient theology of Africa, dating back to the beginning of recorded history. It was the foundation of ancient African religion and philosophy and influences African traditions and cultural history to this day.
The Kara Heritage Institute
The African people have a rich ancient history and indigenous cultural heritage, which is at risk of being lost in the tide of contemporary global influences. By reigniting awareness of our proud African heritage and reawakening our consciousness of values, at the heart of Africa’s spiritual origins, we can revive the dignity and true equality of Africans and indeed of all humankind.
The Kara Heritage Institute was established in 1982, under the leadership of Executive Director Dr Mathole Motshekga, for the very purpose of restoring the African cultural heritage and building a nation of African communities and people, with the freedom to shape their own destiny.
Now, as South Africa’s leading heritage organisation, the Kara Heritage Institute offers a substantial resource and education centre in Pretoria’s historic CBD, where its building stands testament to the power of an African Renaissance.
Our mission
The Kara Heritage Institute is committed to leveraging the knowledge and ethos of our heritage to grow sustainable and empowered communities, who have the freedom to shape their destiny with their own hands.
Our objectives
In collaboration with various partners, the Kara Heritage Institute is able to achieve its objectives.
Our objectives are to:
- Recover and promote Africa’s heritage and its indigenous knowledge systems
- Harness Africa’s indigenous resources for the moral, social and economic development of disadvantaged and marginalised communities
- Promote Pan Africanism and the African Cultural Renaissance
- Overcome the legacies of our colonial and apartheid past and rebuild a culture of self-esteem and self-reliance in African society
- Challenge the scourges of racism, abuse, bigotry, patriarchy and xenophobia
- Bring the history and cultural heritage of Africa into the mainstream alongside Asia and Europe
- Equip South Africans and Africans with the necessary skills to harness their heritage and indigenous knowledge systems for development
Our partnerships
Right from the start the Kara Heritage Institute welcomed collaborative initiatives with national, provincial and local government, in order to research and roll out campaigns focusing on heritage education, cultural tourism, crafts development, community art centres, organic farming and enterprise development.
Our Community Public Private Partnerships (CPPP) ensure that the targeted communities may reap the benefits of the resources that are used. By working together with private and public sector agencies, communities are able to identify their needs and solutions, and then share resources, personnel and finance to implement projects.
The Kara Heritage Institute currently partners with the following organisations:
- South Africa Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA)
- Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
- Department of Arts and Culture
- Csth SETA (Culture, Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Sector Education and Training Authority) and other SETAs
It is thanks to these partnerships that the Kara Heritage Institute is able to provide a platform to advance Pan Africanism and the African Renaissance.
The early origins of Karaism
Karaism is ancient African theology, dating back to the beginning of recorded history. It was the foundation of ancient African religion and philosophy. Its influence permeates African traditions and cultural history to this day.
Karaism is the ancient theology of Africa that dates back to the beginning of recorded history. It was the foundation of ancient African religion and philosophy and its influence permeates African traditions and cultural history to this day.
The name ‘Kara’ means sun or light, and thus the spiritual Philosophy of Light that defines the ancient spiritual beliefs of Africa became known as Karaism.
Some 14 centuries before the birth of Christ, Karaism took root during the reign of the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Thothmoses III, the legendary founder of the great Solar (Kara) Society, which taught the spiritual Philosophy of Light.
In the ancient city of Annu, later known as Heliopolis (City of the Sun) located in the area of present day Cairo in Egypt, Thothmoses III commissioned the building of his famous sun temple, which featured the Khemetic pillars later know as Cleopatra’s needles.
These legendary pillars were inscribed with sacred inscriptions derived from the teachings of the Ancient Ones of Khem, the priesthood of the Horus kings from the land of Khem (in the region of Africa’s Great Lakes) who founded the ancient empires of Ethiopia and Egypt.
Pharaoh Thothmoses III himself was a descendant of the Horus Kings, and he selected as the symbol of his faith the solar cross which combines a cross within a circle and depicts the union of the four polarities of the earth, probably the oldest symbol in the world.
To find out more, read “The History of Karaism”. Contact us here to order your copy.
