View source for Cheti Chand

{{short description|New year day of Sindhi Hindus}}
{{see also|Indian New Year's days}}
{{Infobox holiday
| holiday_name  = Chetri Chandra or Cheti Chand
| type          = Hindu
| image         = Jhulelal hindu deity.jpg
| caption       = [[Jhulelal (Hinduism)|Jhulelal]], the [[Iṣṭa-devatā (Hinduism)|Ishta Devta]] of the Sindhi Hindus
| nickname      = Sindhi new year
| observedby    = [[Sindhi Hindus]]
| begins        = 
| ends          = 
| date          = March/April
| date2019      = April 6<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sindhitipnocalendar.com/april-sindhi-tipno-calendar-wallpaper-pdf-download/13/|title=April 2019 / 2020 Sindhi Tipno Calendar Wallpaper, PDF Download|date=July 11, 2018|access-date=August 4, 2018|archive-date=July 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724124301/http://sindhitipnocalendar.com/april-sindhi-tipno-calendar-wallpaper-pdf-download/13|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| date2020      = March 25<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.jhulelal.com/calendar/2020.html |title=2020 – Sindhi / Hindu Calendar |website=www.jhulelal.com |access-date=2020-02-28 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>
| date2021      = April 13<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.jhulelal.com/calendar/2021.html |title=2021 – Sindhi / Hindu Calendar |website=www.jhulelal.com |access-date=2021-02-27 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>
| celebrations  = 2 days<ref name=ramey125>{{cite book|author=S. Ramey|title=Hindu, Sufi, or Sikh: Contested Practices and Identifications of Sindhi Hindus in India and Beyond|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bv2ADAAAQBAJ|year=2008|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0-230-61622-6|pages=125–127}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://thesindhuworld.com/sindhi-festivals/|title=Sindhi : Sindhi Festivals: Festival Calendar 2018 : List Sindhi Festivals {{!}} The Sindhu World|website=thesindhuworld.com|language=en-US|access-date=2018-02-22}}</ref>
| observances   = Sindhi New Year's Day, ''mela'' (fairs), social feast, processions, dancing<ref name="Falzon2004p62"/>
| relatedto     = [[Ugadi]], [[Gudi Padwa]]
| date2022      = April 2<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.jhulelal.com/calendar/2022.html |title=2022 – Sindhi / Hindu Calendar |website=www.jhulelal.com |access-date=2022-04-02 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>
}}
{{Hinduism}}
'''Chetri Chandra''' ({{Langx|sd|چيتي چند}}, Moon of Chaitra) is a festival that marks the beginning of the Lunar [[Chaitra Navratri|Hindu New Year]] for [[Sindhi Hindus]].<ref name="Falzon2004p62" /><ref name="Ramey2008p8">{{cite book|author=S. Ramey|title=Hindu, Sufi, or Sikh: Contested Practices and Identifications of Sindhi Hindus in India and Beyond|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bv2ADAAAQBAJ|year=2008|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0-230-61622-6|pages=8, 36}}</ref> The date of the festival is based on the lunar cycle of the lunisolar [[Hindu calendar]], falling on the first day of the year, in the Sindhi month of ''Chet'' ([[Chaitra]]).<ref name="Falzon2004p62">{{cite book|author=Mark-Anthony Falzon|title=Cosmopolitan Connections: The Sindhi Diaspora, 1860–2000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ljbS-I5Y8WMC&pg=PA62|year=2004|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-14008-5|pages=60–63}}</ref> It typically falls in late March or early April in the [[Gregorian calendar]] on or about the same day as [[Gudi Padwa]] in Maharashtra, [[Ugadi]] in other parts of the Deccan region and Hindu Samvat Nav Varsha or beginning on New Year in Hindu Samvat Calendar of India.

== Overview ==
The festival marks the arrival of spring and harvest,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-04-09|title=Jhulelal Jayanti 2021 (Cheti Chand) [Hindi]: जानिए झूलेलाल जी को विस्तार से|url=https://news.jagatgururampalji.org/cheti-chand-jhulelal-jayanti/|access-date=2021-04-14|website=S A NEWS|language=en-US}}</ref> but in the Sindhi community, it also marks the birth of Uderolal in 1007, after they prayed to the [[Varuna|Hindu god Varun Dev]] on the banks of River Indus to save them from the persecution by the tyrannical Muslim ruler Mirkhshah.<ref name="Ramey2008p8"/><ref name=falzon159/><ref name=kumar120>{{cite book|author=P. Pratap Kumar|title=Contemporary Hinduism|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=7Wd_BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA120|year= 2014|publisher= Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-54636-8|pages= 120–124}}</ref> 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,<ref name="Ramey2008p8"/> 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.<ref name="Ramey2008p8"/><ref name=falzon159>{{cite book|author=Mark-Anthony Falzon|title=Cosmopolitan Connections: The Sindhi Diaspora, 1860–2000|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ljbS-I5Y8WMC&pg=PA59|year=2004|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-14008-5|pages=58–60}}</ref>

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, Sindh|Hyderabad]], Pakistan).<ref name="Falzon2004p62"/> 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 [Varun dev], similar to [[Vithoba]]),<ref>{{cite book|author=Mark-Anthony Falzon|title=Cosmopolitan Connections: The Sindhi Diaspora, 1860–2000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ljbS-I5Y8WMC&pg=PA62|year=2004|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-14008-5|page=60}}</ref> other Hindu deities, and social dancing.<ref name="Falzon2004p62"/>

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]]), fal (fruits), and akha. Behind is kalash (water jar) and a nariyal ([[coconut]]) in it, covered with [[cloth]], phool ([[flowers]]) and patta ([[leaves]]).<ref>{{Cite web|title=PHOTOS: How India celebrates New Year|url=https://www.rediff.com/getahead/slide-show/slide-show-1-specials-how-india-celebrates-the-hindu-new-year/20130411.htm|access-date=2021-04-13|website=Rediff|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=cheti chand,sindhi festivals, chaliho sahab - Festivals Of India|url=https://www.festivalsofindia.in/chetichand/|access-date=2021-04-13|website=www.festivalsofindia.in}}</ref> There is also a [[Murti]] (statue) of Pujya Jhulelal Devta. Cheti Chand is a major festival of Sindhi Hindus in India and Pakistan,<ref name=ramey125/> and also celebrated by the Hindu [[Sindhi diaspora]] around the world.<ref name="Falzon2004p62"/><ref name=kumar120/>

== Months (lunar) ==
{| class="wikitable"
!Month no.
!Name
![[Sindhi language|Sindhi Naskh]]
![[Devanagari|Sindhi Nagari]]
!Western months
|-
|1
|[[Vaisakh|Wesakh]]
|ويسخ
|वेसाख
|Mid April – Mid May
|-
|2
|[[Jeth|Jheth]]
|جيٿ
|जेठ
|Mid May –  Mid June
|-
|3
|[[Harh|Akhar]]
|اکڙي
|आखर
|Mid June –  Mid July
|-
|4
|[[Sawan|Saanwanr]]
|سانوڻ
|सावनवार
|Mid July –  Mid August
|-
|5
|[[Bhadon|Baddo]]
|بدو
|बडो
|Mid August – Mid September
|-
|6
|[[Assu|Asav]]
|آساو
|आसव
|Mid September – Mid October
|-
|7
|[[Kattak|Katee]]
|ڪيٽي
|केटी
|Mid October – Mid November
|-
|8
|[[Magghar (month)|Nahri]]
|نهري
|नाहरी
|Mid November – Mid December
|-
|9
|[[Poh]]
|پوهه
|पोह
|Mid December – Mid January
|-
|10
|[[Magh (Sikh calendar)|Maangh]]
|مانگھ
|मांग
|Mid January – Mid February
|-
|11
|[[Phaggan|Phagun]]
|ڦاڄن
|फागुन
|Mid February – Mid March
|-
|12
|[[Chet (month)|Chet]]
|چيٽ
|चेट
|Mid March – Mid April
|}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [http://www.sindhunagar.com/chetichand.php 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) [http://sindhirasoi.com/2012/03/tairisindhi-sweet-rice-for-chetichand/] from sindhirasoi.com

{{HinduFestivals}}
{{Sindhi festivals}}
{{Sindh topics}}
{{New Year by Calendar}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Hindu festivals]]
[[Category:New Year celebrations]]
[[Category:New Year in India]]
[[Category:New Year in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Sindhi culture]]
[[Category:Hinduism in Sindh]]
[[Category:March observances]]
[[Category:April observances]]
[[Category:Hindu festivals in India]]
[[Category:Religious festivals in India]]
[[Category:Religious festivals in Pakistan]]