Sant Jhulelal Jayanti is the birth anniversary of Ishtadev of Sindhi community who is also referred to as Dariyalal or Zinda Pir. In 2020, Sant Jhulelal Jayanti date is March 26.
Jhulelal Jayanti also marks the beginning of Sindhi Tipni (Sindhi calendar) and thus the Sindhi New Year. It falls on the Dwitiya of Shukla Paksha in Chaitra Month.
Jhulelal lived around the 10th Century A.D.(952).
Jhulelal is the Ishta Dev (community God) of Sindhi 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 River Indus in Pakistan).” When Sindhi men venture out to sea their women pray to him 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”.
Hindu Sindhis also wrote a prayer, “O Lal Meri Pat Rakhiyo Bala Jhule lalan…..” to praise this God. This poem later was modified (by some sufi saints) to include Shahbaaz Qalandar who worked for Hindu-Muslim unity in Sindh.