Festival · 2027
Cheti Chand 2027 — Thursday, 8 April 2027
Cheti Chand is the Sindhi New Year and the birthday of Jhulelal, kept on the evening the first thin crescent of the Chaitra Moon returns to the sky.
In 2026
Friday, 20 March 2026
- Tithi
- Shukla Dwitiya: 20 Mar, 4:52 AM – 21 Mar, 2:31 AM
- Lunar month
- Chaitra
- Sunrise / sunset
- 6:25 AM / 6:32 PM
- Sunset
- 6:32 PM
Rule: Chaitra Shukla Dwitiya prevailing at sunset, the first evening the new crescent can be seen; if on both days, the first.
In 2027
Thursday, 8 April 2027
- Tithi
- Shukla Dwitiya: 8 Apr, 4:29 AM – 9 Apr, 3:10 AM
- Lunar month
- Chaitra
- Sunrise / sunset
- 6:03 AM / 6:42 PM
- Sunset
- 6:42 PM
Rule: Chaitra Shukla Dwitiya prevailing at sunset, the first evening the new crescent can be seen; if on both days, the first.
Times follow New Delhi’s sunrise and sunset. In other cities the muhurat shifts by some minutes, and occasionally the day by one. Full festival calendar
What is Cheti Chand?
Cheti Chand is the most important festival of the Sindhi community. The name joins two words: Cheti, from Chaitra, the first month of the lunar year, and Chand, the Moon. It falls on Chaitra Shukla Dwitiya, the second day of the bright fortnight, which is usually the first evening on which the new crescent can be seen after the new Moon. For Sindhis it is both the start of the new year and Jhulelal Jayanti, the day their patron saint is remembered as having been born.
Jhulelal, also called Uderolal, Darya Lal and Zinda Pir, is revered as a form of Varuna, the lord of water. The story told in Sindhi tradition places him on the banks of the Indus in the tenth century or thereabouts, when a ruler of Thatta, named in the songs as Mirkhshah, pressed the Hindus of Sindh to give up their faith. The community is said to have prayed and fasted on the river bank for forty days, and a voice from the water promised a child who would protect them. That child, born to Ratanchand and Devaki at Nasarpur, grew up to face the ruler and persuade him that God is one, whatever name people use. The account is kept in devotional songs and oral tradition rather than in a single old text.
Because Jhulelal is linked with water, the day is centred on rivers, lakes and the sea. Families carry an offering called Bahrana Sahib to the water, pray for the year ahead and greet one another with the words “Ayo Lal, Jhulelal”. For a community that was scattered across India and the world after the Partition of India, Cheti Chand has also become a day of shared identity, when language, songs, food and memories of Sindh are brought out together.
The festival sits within a busy week of spring beginnings. It usually comes a day after Gudi Padwa and Ugadi, or on the same day, and in the middle of Chaitra Navratri. What makes it distinct is the evening: the new crescent, the lamps by the water and the procession with the image of Jhulelal seated on a fish, which is how he is most often shown.
How it is observed
- Preparing Bahrana Sahib: a lamp of flour dough (jyot), misri, cardamom, fruit, cloves and akho (rice and flour offered to water), arranged on a plate with a kalash and a coconut.
- Carrying Bahrana Sahib in procession, with songs and dancing, to a river, lake or the sea, and offering it to the water in the evening.
- Visiting the local Jhulelal temple or tikano, and taking part in the shobha yatra with an image of Jhulelal seated on a fish.
- Singing panjra and bhajans of Jhulelal, and dancing the chhej, a Sindhi circle dance, in the procession.
- Preparing festive food such as tahiri (sweet rice) and saying the greeting “Ayo Lal, Jhulelal”.
- In many households, keeping a fast through the day and eating after the evening prayer at the water.
How the date is fixed
Cheti Chand is kept on Chaitra Shukla Dwitiya, the second lunar day of the bright half of Chaitra. Our calendar takes the day on which Dwitiya prevails at sunset, because that is the first evening on which the new crescent can be seen and the evening when the offering is taken to the water. If Dwitiya is present at sunset on two consecutive days, the first of the two is taken. The date and times above are worked out this way for the place you choose, using the Moon’s true position rather than a fixed table.
Where practice differs
Cheti Chand is kept wherever Sindhi families live: in Sindh itself, and in India in Ulhasnagar, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Indore, Bhopal, Jaipur, Ajmer, Delhi, Lucknow and many other cities, as well as among Sindhi communities abroad. Large processions are held in cities with big Sindhi populations, and the local panchayat or temple committee often announces its own programme. Because the day depends on when Dwitiya holds at sunset, printed Sindhi calendars and other almanacs occasionally keep it one day apart from each other; families usually follow their local temple. The same Dwitiya is simply the second day of Chaitra Navratri for most other Hindus.
Dates and times are computed by our own engine (sunrise, tithi and kalas for New Delhi, Lahiri ayanamsa). In another city, or in an almanac of another tradition, the day can differ by one — follow your family’s tradition.
Questions people ask
Why is Cheti Chand celebrated?
It marks the Sindhi New Year and the birth of Jhulelal, the saint and form of Varuna whom Sindhi tradition remembers as the protector of the community on the banks of the Indus. The day brings thanksgiving to water, prayer for the year ahead and a celebration of Sindhi identity.
Is Cheti Chand the same day as Gudi Padwa?
Usually it is the day after. Gudi Padwa and Ugadi are on Chaitra Shukla Pratipada, the first day of the bright half, while Cheti Chand is on Dwitiya, the second. When Dwitiya already holds at sunset on the Pratipada day, the two fall on the same date.
What is Bahrana Sahib?
Bahrana Sahib is the offering taken to the water on Cheti Chand: a dough lamp with a flame, misri, fruit, cloves, cardamom and akho, arranged with a kalash and coconut. It is carried in procession with songs and offered to a river, lake or the sea, in gratitude to Jhulelal as the lord of water.
What does “Ayo Lal, Jhulelal” mean?
It is the festive greeting and rallying cry of the day, roughly “the beloved one has come, Jhulelal”. Sindhis call it out in processions and use it to wish each other a happy new year.