Chetri Chandra (, Moon of Chaitra) is a festival that marks the beginning of the Lunar Hindu New Year for Sindhi Hindus. The date of the festival is based on the lunar cycle of the lunisolar

Hindu calendar The Hindu calendar, Panchanga () or Panjika is one of various lunisolar calendars that are traditionally used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with further regional variations for social and Hindu religious purposes. They adopt a ...

, falling on the first day of the year, in the Sindhi month of ''Chet'' ( Chaitra). It typically falls in late March or early April in the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years di ...

on or about the same day as Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra and Ugadi in other parts of the Deccan region of India.

Overview

The festival marks the arrival of spring and harvest, but in the Sindhi community, it also marks the birth of Uderolal in 1007, after they prayed to the Hindu god Varun Dev on the banks of River Indus to save them from the persecution by the tyrannical Muslim ruler Mirkhshah. Varun Dev 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 champion of the people in Sindh, from both religions. Among his Sufi Muslim followers, Jhulelal is known as "Khwaja Khizir" or "Zindapir". The Hindu Sindhi, according to this legend, celebrate the new year as Uderolal's birthday. The tradition likely started with Daryapanthis. During the British colonial rule era, major annual fairs (''melas'') used to be held in Uderolal and Zindapir (near

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

, Pakistan). In contemporary times, the Sindhi community celebrates the festival of Cheti Chand with major fairs, feast parties, processions with ''jhankis'' (glimpse stage) of Jhulelal (an avatar of

arun dev Arun may refer to: People * Arun (given name), including a list of people with that name * Ila Arun, Indian actress * Priya Arun (born 1967), Indian actress * Bharat Arun (born 1962), Indian Test cricketer Places * Arun, Badakhshan, Afghanista ...

similar to Vithoba), other Hindu deities, and social dancing. On this day, many Sindhis take Baharana Sahib, a representation of Jhulelal, to a nearby river or lake. Baharana Sahib consists of jyot (oil lamp), misiri (crystal sugar), fota (

cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia. They are r ...

), fal (fruits), and akha. Behind is kalash (water jar) and a nariyal ( coconut) in it, covered with

cloth Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

, phool ( flowers) and patta ( leaves). There is also a

Murti In the Hindu tradition, a ''murti'' ( sa, मूर्ति, mūrti, ) is a devotional image such as a statue, or "idol" (a common and non-pejorative term in Indian English), of a deity or saint. In Hindu temples, it is a symbolic icon. T ...

(statue) of Pujya Jhulelal Devta. Cheti Chand is a major festival of Sindhi Hindus in India and Pakistan, and also celebrated by the Hindu Sindhi diaspora around the world.

References

External links

Images of Cheti Chand in Sindhunagar
from Sindhunagar.com * Recipe to make Tairi (an authentic Sindhi delicacy or Sweet Rice made on occasion of Chetichand

from sindhirasoi.com {{authority control Hindu festivals New Year celebrations New Year in India New Year in Pakistan Sindhi culture Hinduism in Sindh March observances April observances Hindu festivals in India Religious festivals in India Religious festivals in Pakistan