Sindhi Cultural Day ( sd, سنڌي ثقافتي ڏھاڙو) is a popular Sindhi cultural festival. It is celebrated with traditional enthusiasm to highlight the centuries-old rich

culture of Sindh The Culture of Sindhi ( sd, سنڌ جي ثقافت) has its roots in the Indus Valley civilization. Sindh has been shaped by the largely desert region, the natural resources it had available, and continuous foreign influence. The Indus or Sindhu ...

. The day is celebrated each year in the first week of December on the Sunday. It's widely celebrated all over Sindh, and amongst the Sindhi diaspora population around the world.

Sindhis Sindhis ( sd, سنڌي Perso-Arabic: सिन्धी Devanagari; ) are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group who speak the Sindhi language and are native to the province of Sindh in Pakistan. After the partition of British Indian empire in 1947, man ...

celebrate this day to demonstrate the peaceful identity of Sindhi culture and acquire the attention of the world towards their rich heritage. On this jubilation people gather in all major cities of Sindh at press clubs, and other places to arrange various activities. Literary (poetic) gatherings, ''mach katchehri'' (gathering in a place and sitting round in a circle and the fire on sticks in the center), musical concerts, seminars, lecture programs and rallies. Sindhi cultural day is celebrated worldwide on the first Sunday of December. On the occasion people wearing

Ajrak Ajrak ( sd, اجرڪ), also known as Ajrakh, is a unique form of blockprinting found mostly in Sindh, Pakistan and Ajrakhpur, Kutch district, India. These shawls display special designs and patterns made using block printing by stamps. Over the ...

and Sindhi Topi, traditional block printed

shawl A shawl (from fa, شال ''shāl'',) is a simple item of clothing from Kashmir, loosely worn over the shoulders, upper body and arms, and sometimes also over the head. It is usually a rectangular or square piece of cloth, which is often folde ...

the musical programs and rallies are held in many cities to mark the day with zeal. Major hallmarks of cities and towns are decorated with Sindhi Ajrak. People across Sindh exchange gifts of Ajrak and Topi at various ceremonies. Even the children and women dress up in Ajrak, assembling at the grand gathering, where famous Sindhi singers sing Sindhi songs, which depicts peace and love message of Sindh. The musical performances of the artists compel the participants to dance on Sindhi tunes and national song ‘''Jeay Sindh Jeay-Sindh Wara Jean''’. All political, social and religious organizations of Sindh, besides the Sindh Culture Department and administrations of various schools, colleges and universities, organize variety of events including seminars, debates, folk music programs, drama and theatric performances, tableaus and literary sittings to mark this annual festivity. Sindhi culture, history and heritage are highlighted at the events.

History

Cultural day is observed to display solidarity among the Sindhi-speaking masses; the event is celebrated throughout Sindh and all over the world. The culture and heritage day was celebrated for the first time on 6 December 2009 (as the Sindhi Topi Day) as a backlash to the comments of anchorperson Dr. Shahid Masood who had criticized President

Asif Ali Zardari Asif Ali Zardari ( ur, ; sd, ; born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician who is the president of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians and was the co-chairperson of Pakistan People's Party. He served as the 11th president of Pakist ...

for wearing a Sindhi cap on his foreign tours. People across the Sindh province condemned Masood’s comments via SMS, which ultimately resulted in the announcement of celebrating the Sindhi Topi Day. Ever since, Sindhi media groups have also started to celebrate the day as ‘Sindhi Cultural Day’. The Sindhi language TV channels including Time News,

Sindh TV Sindh TV (trademarked Sindh TV) or Sindh Television is a Sindhi-based satellite television channel. The channel promotes "culture, sufism and affection for the Sindhi language" airing a wide variety of programs, such as a morning show, infotainme ...

, Awaz TV and Mehran TV broadcast live and special programmes on the culture of Sindh, besides these media outlets separately arrange the mega musical events, which also attract large audience to celebrate the Culture Day every year.

Timeline

This is the timeline of celebrations of the Sindhi Cultural day.

2009

The first cultural day celebrations were held on 6 December 2009. Ali Kazi was the first to announce the celebration of the cultural day and all Sindhis endorsed his decision.

2010

Sindhi cultural day was celebrated in December 2010.

Provincial government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, ...

and Chief Minister of Sindh

Syed Qaim Ali Shah Syed Qaim Ali Shah Jillani ( sd, سيد قائم علي شاه جيلاني , ur, ) is a Pakistani politician who served as the elected Chief Minister of Sindh for three terms. His last two terms combined, a total of eight years, makes him t ...

announced it a public holiday.

2011

Sindhi cultural day was celebrated in December 2011.

Government of Sindh The Government of Sindh ( sd, حڪومت سنڌ) ( ur, ) is the provincial government of the province of Sindh, Pakistan. Its powers and structure are set out in the provisions of the 1973 Constitution, in which 30 Districts of 7 Divisions u ...

in collaboration with media centers sponsored this event.

2012

Sindhi cultural day was celebrated in December 2012. A major gathering was held outside Karachi Press Club.

2013

Sindhi cultural day was celebrated in December 2013. The US Consulate in Karachi arranged a Qawali program on the occasion.

2014

Sindhi cultural day was celebrated in December 2014. The main event was arranged at Karachi Press Club.

2015

Sindhi cultural day was celebrated in December 2015. The US Consulate arranged a musical program at the Consul General’s residence.

2016

This year all Sindhi media including KTN and

mutually celebrated cultural day on 4 December. Many people gathered at the Karachi Press Club, where a large stage was decorated with Pana-flexes. The US Consulate General, Karachi celebrated the cultural day of Sindh.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Bilawal Bhutto Zardari ( ur, بلاول بھٹو زرداری; born 21 September 1988) is a Pakistani politician who is serving as the 37th Minister of Foreign Affairs, in office since 27 April 2022. He became the chairman of Pakistan Peop ...

also celebrated in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

during his political program.

2017

Sindhi cultural day was celebrated in the first week of December, 2017 across Sindh and worldwide. The main event was held at Karachi Press Club where people from around the city gathered.

2018

Sindhi cultural day was celebrated on Sunday, 2 December 2018. The theme this year was Aekta (unity). People all across the province celebrated the day by arranging Ajrak stalls, cultural gatherings and rallies; main event in Hyderabad was arranged at Sindh Museum.

2019

In 2019, Sindhi Cultural Day was celebrated on 1 December. theme is "Our Unity Day". This day was celebrated by Sindhi communities all over the globe even people from different communities participate on this celebration. Sindhis celebrate this day as National Eid. In Sindh province people celebrate this day by leading rally, dancing and singing Sindhi songs. From school to universities, students, teachers & parents celebrate by performing skits, studying Sindhi history, art & culture. On other hand Sindhi media in association with Sindhi Culture Department broadcast Sindhi Cultural Shows and shows school's & college's functions live on television. Largest and longest Sindhi Ajrak in the world was exhibited in Sukkur, Sindh and 130 meters and 20 feet Sindhi Ajrak was displayed in Hyderabad, on the eve of Sindhi cultural Day in 1 December 2019.

2020

Preparations This year Sindhi Cultural Day is to be celebrated on 6 December. Preparations for celebrating this day Sindhi people across the world especially from Sindh are engaged in purchasing traditional clothing;

s and Sindhi Caps. Distinguished Sindhi personalities are leading people and arranging rallies from small to bigger towns of the province. Moreover, Native musicians/singers have released Cultural Day video Songs promoting and preserving culture,

Ali Zafar Ali Zafar ( pa, ; born 18 May 1980) is a Pakistani singer-songwriter, model, actor, producer, screenwriter and painter. Zafar started out on Pakistani television before becoming a popular musician. He later also established a career in Bol ...

, Urooj Fatima & Abid Brohi have produced 'Allay Muhinja Maruara', Ghulam Asghar Khoso has produced 'Jiye Jiye Muhenji Sohni Sindhrri Jiye' and 'Pehanjo Polly Phenjo Sindh' is produced by Shuja Haider. Celebration Today, 6 December, Cultural Day of Sindh is being celebrated across the world as well as in Sindh.

2021

Sindh Cultural day was celebrated on the 1st Sunday of December, which means 5th December, 2021.

2022

In 2022, it's being celebrated on 4th December 2022.

Traditional Attire

It is a common site to see Sindhis covering themselves with the traditional attire while they celebrate the day. The most common two pieces of clothing regularly worn by Sindhis on this day include

and

Sindhi cap The Sindhi cap, also known as the Sindhī ṭopī () rarely known as the Sindhi Kufi ( sd, سنڌي ڪفي), is a skullcap worn predominantly by Sindhis in Sindh, Pakistan. Together with Ajrak or Saraiki Ajrak, the Sindhi cap is regarded as an ...

. Both of these pieces hold a significant value among the locals as they are a symbol of pride, tradition, honor and respect for the culture.

Gallery

File:Sindhi Cap-front view1.png, Sindhi cap front view File:Sindhi Cap-Topview brighten.jpg, Sindhi Cap-Topview brighten File:Sindhi Cap-Bottom front view.jpg, Sindhi Cap-Bottom front view File:Sindhi Cultural Day 2016.jpg, Sindhi Cultural Day 2016 File:Sindhi Cultural Day-VID.webm, Sindhi Cultural Day-clip File:Sindhi Cultural Day 2019 celebrations at Sindh museum Hyderabad, Sindh.jpg, Sindhi Cultural Day 2019 celebrations at Sindh museum Hyderabad, Sindh

References

{{Sindh topics

External links

Sindhi Cultural Day 2018Sindhi Cultural Day 2019
Sindhi culture December observances Sunday observances Holidays and observances by scheduling (nth weekday of the month) Sindhi festivals Events in Sindh