Cheti Chand (Moon of Chaitra)
- Rohit Kumar Parmar
Cheti Chand (Moon of Chaitra) marks the first day of the Lunar New Year in the Sindhi (people from undivided Indian province of Sindh) month of Chet (Chaitra). It typically falls in late March or early April in the Gregorian calendar, about the same day as Gudi Padwa and Ugadi. In 2021, the Lunar New Year and Solar New Year dates have coincided and several of the Indian festivals are falling on April 13/14, 2021.
The festival marks the arrival of spring and harvest, but the Sindhi community also celebrate the birth of Uderolal in 1007 CE, after the community prayed to god Varun Dev on the banks of River Indus to save them from the persecution by the tyrannical Muslim ruler Mirkhshah.
Varun Dev morphed as a warrior and old man preached and reprimanded Mirkhshah that Muslims and Hindus deserve religious freedoms. He, as Jhulelal, became the champion of the people in Sindh, both Hindus and Muslims. Among his Sufi Muslim followers, Jhulelal is known as "Khwaja Khizir" or "Sheikh Tahit".
In light of this common heritage songs in praise of Jhule Lal are sung by Noor Jahan and Runa Laila
Noor Jahan
Runa Laila
In earlier times, major annual melas (fairs) were held in Uderolal and Zindapir (near Hyderabad, Sindh, now Pakistan).
Celebrations of the festival has major fairs, feast parties, processions with jhankis (glimpse stage) of Jhulelal (an avatar of Varun dev, similar to Vithoba), other Hindu deities, and social dancing.
On this day, many Sindhis take Baharana Sahib {consisting of jyot (oil lamp), misiri (crystal sugar), fota (cardamom), fal (fruits), and akha, kalash (water jar) and a nariyal (coconut)}, representing Jhulelal, to a nearby river or lake.
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