Indian Institute of Sindhology (IIS)

Out of the many philanthropic initiatives initiated by fellow Sindhis, the one that I admire the most and closely follow has been the establishment and growth of Indian Insitutute of Sindhology (IIS) in Adipur, Kutch. IIS was established in 1989 with a clear mandate of preserving and promoting Sindhi Culture. 

I first heard about IIS during one of the conversations in “Sindhi Sarvech” program produced by Dada Ram Jawahrani. IIS runs a senior secondary school named ‘Sadhu Hiranand Navalrai Academy’, after two prominent Sindhi reformists and educationists of Sindh, Sadhu Hiranand and Sadhu Navalrai. The school is named after these two brothers to revive the memory of “Union Academy”, which was established by them in Hyderabad, Sindh, before partition and was renamed as Sadhu Hiranand Navalrai Academy, after their death. If my information is correct, originally the school used to be a sindhi medium school, however, due to lack of participation from the community it is now a English medium school where Sindhi is taught as one of the languages.  In addition, IIS also proposes to set up Bharati Sindhu Vidyapeeth (Cultural University) in due course of time (subject to availability of funds). Bharati Sindhu Vidyapeeth will act both as an academic centre as well as will also be a cultural centre.

IIS has published a number of books, few of which are also available on their website free of cost.  I have read a few of them and find them to be quite insightful.  Gandhidham/Kutch area in Gujarat has seen a number of initiatives to preserve Sindhi identity over the past few years and I hope all the initiatives are able to accomplish what they have set out to achieve. IIS also runs Sindhi language classes for those who are interested to read and write the language.

Please do visit IIS web-site to see the wonderful work they are doing in order to preserve culture and language. (http://sindhology.org/)

Whilst on this topic, recently a national level Sindhi conference organized by National Council for Promotion of Sindhi Language (NCPSL) was held in Maharashtra. A number of state level Sindhi academies made presentation at the conference. I did listen to some of these on you-tube. The presentation made by Sindhi Sahitya Academy Gujarat’s Dada (Dr) Jetho Lalwani is absolutely remarkable. The academy has an annual budget of INR 1.3 million (roughly USD 18,000); however what they are able to achieve in such meagre budget is absolutely remarkable. The link to Dada’s speech is as follows:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDj0xxfJTzY

Jiye Sindhiyat!

Jhulelal

Jhulelal/Lal Sain/ Uderolal is the “Isht Dev” of Hindu Sindhis.I have grown up listening to elders of the family remembering Lal Sain on all important occassions ; " Sain meher kajaan" (Be merciful,o Lord) being a common saying. Legend has it that Lal Sain was born to protect Hindu Sindhis from the tyrrant ruler Mirakh Shah who wanted all Hindus to embrace Islam. In the post-partition India, Jhulelal Sain has become a unifying force for the Hindu Sindhi community . Most religious programs at our Sindhu Samaj usually end with reciting " Ayolal sabahi chaho Jhulelal" thereby emphasizing the central  position that  Lal Sain holds in a Sindhi household.

Closely related with Jhulelal is Lal Shabaz Qalandar who is revered by Sindhi Muslims. Some of us may have heard about the famous Lal Shabaz Qalandar shrine in Sehwan, Pakistan named after this well known  Sufi Saint. As I have mentioned previously, Sindh was (and hopefully is!) a "Land of Sufis"- where religious affiliations have generally not been the focal determinant of social interactions . In fact, this commonality ( "Eternal Oneness of Spirit" as Dada Bhaneja puts it) between Jhulelal and Lal Shahbaz Qalander is beautifully captured by the below paragraph that I read on the internet.

“Jhulelal is not a regular Hindu/Sindhi/Sufi/Islamic deity. For one, Jhulelal or Daryalal is known and worshipped in many forms, across religious sects. Although there are several tales of Jhulelal known across Sindh and the global Sindhi diaspora, there is a complex synergy between Jhulelal, Lal Shabaz Qalander of Shehwan, Shaikh Tahir of Uderolal and Khwaja Khijr, worshipped at different times by different groups. The link that connects these deities and Saints is singular: The Indus River. Jhulelal is a part of the Daryapanthi or Daryahi sect which worships the Indus, a form of River or water worship which may have its links dating back to the ancient Mohenjadaro civilization.”

(Source: https://sandrp.in/2016/01/01/jhulelal-or-zindapir-river-saints-fish-and-flows-of-the-indus/)

Jhulelal Sain sitting on Pallo (Hilsa) fish

 For the interested reader, the chapter on "Jhoolay Lal" in Dada K R Malkani's book " The Sindh Story" is an informative read.

I recently also read about Jhulelal Tirathdham Trust which intends to build a Sindhi pilgrimage and Cultural Centre in Kutch region of Gujarat. The pilgrimage center will be built on a 33 acre land plot between the ancient Shiva temple at Koteshwar and the holy Narayan Sarovar, in Kutcch district; some 100 kms from Bhuj. The trust decided to build a tirath dham with a grand statue of Lal Sain as research suggests that a holy place (Tirath Dham) has been instrumental in keeping together almost every other community in the world, and that is what the scattered (Hindu) Sindhi community needs. The interested reader may want to read more on the trust’s website: http://www.jhulelaltirathdham.com/Public/Home

The entire project is likely to cost around INR 120 Crores (approx. USD 17.5 Million). Phase 1 of the project has already commenced. The trustee of the board, Dada Dilip Lakhi, a well-known diamond merchant based in Mumbai, has committed to donate a rupee for every rupee that the project raises – which in other words means that only 50% of the amount needs to be raised by the community as Dada Lakhi will pitch in the rest.  Such a wonderful gesture, isn’t it? I hope the rest of the community is able to pitch in the remainder amount. 

Artistic Impression of Jhuelal Tirathdham Trust

I end with this 8 minute short documentary film about the project which I found to be an informative watch. I am personally excited about this project and I hope they are able to accomplish what they have set out to achieve.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVKc7gEk9YE

Jai Jhulelal