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Lord Jhulelal: the name evokes a feeling of peace, tranquillity and serenity if one looks at the life history and teachings of this deity revered by Sindhis in India and equally or even more by Sindhis who have made their homes outside India.

He is a binding force for the Sindhi community who had to leave Sindh before and during the partition of India and had to travel long distances and settle at many places in post-partition India. They had to leave their own land, the motherland Sindh, from which the name Sindhi is derived. The vicissitude brought them from riches to rags in just a moment of time. The change of fortune forced them to travel with only a pair of clothes they were wearing and a handful of belongings leaving behind their ancestral properties and wealth earned by the generations of their family.

The circumstances under which the Sindhis had to forcibly migrate from Sindh is not easy to describe. On one hand, there was a threat to their lives and on the other, there was all the fortune, wealth and property which was a fruit of hard work of generations. Despite finding themselves in such a dilemma, they showed tremendous courage and migrated to post-partition India and they were looking forward to starting a new life in independent India. Subsequently, their rehabilitation was done by the Government of India at many relief camps at various places in independent India set up by the Government of India. (Ed. Abraham-Asrani 2013:43-44) The places of rehabilitation were totally new to Sindhis having a different language, climate, food habits and geographical location. Above all, they had no work to earn their livelihood when they reached those places.

Looking at the Sindhi community which is spread all over India and abroad as well, a strong force is found, binding them, bringing them together, keeping them in touch with their own culture and with each other, and it is undoubtedly Lord Jhulelal. (See plates 1 and 2)

He is the North Star for Sindhis, he is like a magnet bringing all Sindhis wherever they are under one roof. He is a binding force for Sindhis spread all over the country and abroad as well. This can be witnessed on the occasion of auspicious day 鈥楥heti Chand鈥� when the entire Sindhi community gathers at Jhulelal temple to celebrate. It is believed that Lord Jhulelal is an incarnation of Vedic Deity Varuna, the river God. (Ed. Abraham-Asrani 2013:54). This day is celebrated for two reasons. One, that it is the first day of the new year as per Indian calendar and the second is, this day is the birthday of their Ishtadeva and saviour Lord Jhulelal who was born on this day. (Vaswani 2008:135)

People of the Sindhi community, wherever they are, on this day leave all other activities, visit Jhulelal temple and celebrate the birthday of their principal deity with great enthusiasm. Lord Jhulelal can, therefore, be called a force that binds them together, a guiding star which is even today keeping this community attached to their age-old culture and helping them to preserve it. Therefore, the topic of this thesis assumes great importance in the life of the Sindhi community which is an integral and a large part of India.