Paper short abstract:

The paper explores the role of Udero Lal in constructing Sindhiyat in Pakistan and India. It focuses on the memories and physical spaces of the temples of Udero Lal in Sindh and Jhulelal in Maharashtra. It also discusses how these temples negotiate with national borders and religious belongings.

Paper long abstract:

The paper introduces the role played by a charismatic figure named Udero Lal / Jhulelal in the production of Sindhiyat both in Pakistan and in India. In the first part, it deals with how the figure is venerated by Muslims and Hindus in the main temple of Pakistan, located in the eponymous village of Udero Lal. It focuses on the organization of the space in the temple, which is said to have been built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (17th Century), as well as on Cheti Chand, the main annual festival which commemorates the birth of Udero Lal. Knowing that the gaddi nashin is a lady who lives in Bombay, it furthermore highlights the negotiation through which the management of the temple is shared between Hindus and Muslims.

In the second part, the paper explores the concept of Sindhiyat as translated within the physical space of Chaliha temple in India. The temple which serves as the epicentre of Chaliha festival that had originated in Sindh, symbolises and imagines an ongoing connection to the motherland Sindh for the Sindhi Hindus of India and the diaspora. The popular narratives believe that the lamp in the heart of the Chaliha temple was brought lit during the turmoil of Partition and with proper care, the flicker has never died out since then. The paper further argues that the fasting rituals for 40-days dedicated to Jhulelal have transformed this Chaliha temple from a small physical space to a symbol of memories of motherland Sindh in India.