Jhulelal (Hinduism)

Jhulelal
Ishta Dev of Sindh
Affiliation	Varuna Deva
Abode	Sea & River Sindhu
Weapon	Sword
Mount	Fish & Horse

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

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