Part 2 - Choosing the topic

The topic of the thesis is chosen keeping in mind that Lord Jhulelal is such an important deity of a large section of Indian population. In spite of this, in many parts of India, there is very limited information available about this deity and there exists a need to make more people aware about life and teachings of Lord Jhulelal. This would help in supporting the Indian spirit of unity in diversity and diversity in unity and help people of India to move towards greater harmony. A deeper analytical study into the life, work, teachings and influence of Lord Jhulelal would certainly help to know more about him.

There is a need to undertake research on this topic of great importance which encompasses the life of an important community in India, which has a distinct presence in diverse fields of our society. While the Sindhis are a predominantly business and trading community, they have eminent personalities in many other fields, such as educational, spiritual, social and philanthropic activities. There is a keen desire in every human being to find his/her own roots, the conduit that takes to understand their forefathers and ancestors, their history, the demographics, the geographical part where they lived and earned their livelihood, the situation under which they progressed and flourished.

All the above factors combined together make the culture of a society and the desire to work on them in greater detail has been an important reason to choose this topic for research.

The researcher visiting the temple of Jhulelal and Dariyalal on the auspicious occasions of Cheti Chand and Chaitri Beej which is the new year day for celebration, resulting in curiosity and quest to find more details about the deity, have been the reasons for choosing this subject for research. In addition, the desire to explore the history and culture of Sindhis and Lohanas is a reason to choose this topic for research. To study in greater details about the life and teachings of Lord Jhulelal and how his teachings fit into today’s context have inspired the researcher. There has been a great influence of this deity on his followers. The study of how his teachings have influenced followers is also an inspiring factor.

During interaction by the researcher with some Sindhi scholars and some prominent personalities, it was noted that there is a definite need for preparing a comprehensive document which would cover the many aspects of Lord Jhulelal, his life and teachings and influence. The material which is available, is, however, not found at one place. It is scattered in different forms. There is no organised repository of information available on Lord Jhulelal and his direct and indirect influence on the fabric of society.

Therefore, there is certainly a need to carry out research and to make it available in a single document. This would be of easy reference for anyone who would be interested in this subject. It would provide the details along with supportive evidence. It would also be of help to those who want to do more research on this deity. Furthermore, a strong desire to work in greater details on Lord Jhulelal has been a dominant reason to undertake research on this topic.

The Lohanas and in particular Kutchi Lohanas are residents of Kutch. The Kutch, a part of Gujarat state is a territorial neighbour of Sindh, though Sindh is not a part of India anymore. The Lohana community also strongly believes that Lord Jhulelal is their community deity. They call him by a different name such as Lord Dariyalal. It is no different than the name Jhulelal. In India, Lord Krishna is called by many names. Whether he is called Mukund or Madhav, Govind or Gopal, it is one and the same entity. Similarly, when one refers Jhulelal or Dariyalal in other regions even by some other names, such as Uderolal, Udayalal, Zinda Pir, Khwaja Khizr, Masta Kalandar; it is used for the same deity.