Jhulelal

Jhulelal is a name that refers to the Ishta Dev (community God) of Hindu Sindhi people. Sindhi Hindus regard him to be an incarnation of Hindu God Varuna.

Jhulelal is the Ishta Dev (preferred God) of Sindhi Hindu people. Jhulelal continues to be the unifying force and the centre of all cultural activities of the Sindhi community. The word Sindhi is derived from the River Sindhu (now the river Indus in Pakistan). When Sindhi men venture out to sea, their women pray to Jhulelal for their safe return. They offer the Lord a prasad of akha, a sweet made from rice, ghee, sugar and flour. Sindhis all over the world greet each other with the words, "Jhulelal Bera-Hee-Paar".

According to Hindu tradition, a tyrannical Muslim ruler named Mirkhshah from Thatta ordered that local Hindus convert to Islam within 24 hours. Local Hindus, fearful of this edict, prayed at the banks of the Indus River, where they then saw a vision of the Hindu deity Varuna who informed the worshippers that he would re-incarnate himself as an infant to be born in Nasirpur in order to deliver them from their hardships.

The baby Jhulelal was then born on the first day of the Hindu month of Chaitra. Upon hearing of the infants birth, Mirkhshah commanded his minister Ahirio to kill the infant with a poisoned rose petal. When Ahirio saw the infant, Jhulelal smiled and the poisoned rose petal blew out of Ahirio's possession. When Ahirio caught sight of Jhulelal for a second time, he was startled to see that the infant had grown into an elderly man. The elderly man was then said to have turned into a young man, and then a warrior on horseback before Ahirio's eyes.

Ahirio returned to recount the story to Mirkhshah, who then lambasted Ahirio, and told him to leave and call out for Jhulelal by the banks of the Indus. Upon calling for Jhulelal, the warrior on horseback appeared out of the river to appear to Ahirio with an accompanying army. Terrified, Ahirio begged Jhulelal to restrain his army. Jhulelal's army then disappeared back into River Indus, while Ahirio went back to the palace to recount the story to Mirkhshah. Mirkhshah remained skeptical, but invited Jhulelal to his court with intent to forcefully convert Jhulelal. Jhulelal is then said to have vanished, leaving Mirkhshah enraged. Mirkhshah then ordered that all Hindus immediately convert to Islam. The Hindus then rushed to the house in Nasirpur where Jhulelal was born, and found Jhulelal there as an infant. The infant consoled the distraught Hindus and commanded them to assemble at a temple near the Indus River. Upon assembling, a firestorm broke out and engulfed Mirkhshah's palaces. The king escaped to the banks of the river, where he found Jhulelal, now again a warrior, and his Hindu followers protected from the firestorm. The king fell at Jhulelal's feet, and Jhulelal dismissed the storm with the movement of his hand.

Cheti Chand

The Cheti Chand festival in the Hindu month of Chaitra marks the arrival of spring and harvest, but in Sindhi Hindu community, it also marks the mythical birth of Uderolal in the year 1007, after they prayed to Hindu god Varuna to save them from the persecution by the tyrannical Muslim ruler named Mirkhshah. Uderolal morphed into a warrior and old man who preached and reprimanded Mirkhshah that Muslims and Hindus deserve the same religious freedoms. He, as Jhulelal, became the saviour of the Sindhi Hindus, who according to this legend, celebrate the new year as Uderolal's birthday.

Chalio

Chalio or Chaliho, also called Chaliho Sahib, is a forty-day-long festival celebrated by Sindhi Hindus to express their gratitude to Jhulelal for saving them from their impending conversion to Islam. The 40-day-long festival is observed every year in months of July to August, dates vary according to Hindu calendar. It is a thanksgiving celebration in honor of Varuna Deva for listening to their prayers.

The Jhulelal Shrine at Odero Lal is situated in Matiari district, almost 40 kilometers away from the Sanghar district of Sindh; The Hindus and the Muslims can pray here at the same place simultaneously. Nawabshah, Hyderabad, Matiari, Sanghar and Mirpur Khas are the nearby major cities to reach at the Shrine near Tando Adam.

Jeko chawundo Jhule Lal Tehnija Theenda Bera Paar (جيڪو چوندو جهولي لال ، تَنهن جا ٿيندا ٻيڙا پار)’ meaning whoever says Jhule Lal his/her ship will reach the shores (safely).

Iconography

• In the most common form, Jhulelal is represented as a bearded man sitting cross-legged on a lotus flower that rests on a palla fish. The fish is seen floating on the Sindhu river. He holds a sacred text and sometimes even a rosary. He wears a golden crown with a peacock feather and wears regal clothes. Generally, temple idols represent him in this form.
• In another form, he is shown standing on a palla fish or the lotus flower, holding a staff with both hands to indicate leadership.