A Saintly Galaxy of Sindh – Biography Saint Kanwarram
A Saintly Galaxy of Sindh
Sindh is known as a land of Saints. The Sun of spirituality very much shined and illumined in the skies over the holy land of Rishis and Vedas, Saints and Sufis.
Sindh produced many spiritual giants, Saintly stars and thinkers, Sages and Philosophers, social reformers and educationists, fighters and philanthropists. Sindhis believe in universal brotherhood and have a broad and cosmopolitan outlook. In Sindhi, Hindus, Muslims lived as brothers, with friendship and respect, affection and love for each other.
The first and foremost Saint of Sindh is ‘Uderolal’ of Udhaichand, commonly called as ‘Jhulelal’. Jhulelal is respected and venerated as a ‘Deity’ of Sindhi community. He is praised, respected and prayed by Hindus and Muslims alike.
The legend of Uderolal as the God of Indus has fascinated many thinkers. The word ‘Udero’ comes from ‘Oder’ the name of the river, which rises in Odergeberg and traverses some of the east European lands. According Dr. S.K. Chatterjee a well-known authority in linguistics, once suggested that the name is derived from a common old Indo-Aryan or Vedic Sanskrit word ‘Udu’ or ‘Uda’ meaning ‘water’. He felt the connection with river name ‘Oder’ was possible in a remote way, because common Slav word for water is ‘Voda’ which is the same as ‘Uda’. Of course, the ancient Slav and Indo-Aryan Vedic have both descended from a common primitive Indo-European language. ‘Uderolal’ is supposed to come from Sindhu River sitting on a big fish (Machh). He is said to have rescued Sindhi Hindus from the clutches of Zealot called as ‘Markh’ who is supposed to have ruled lower Sindh over one thousand years ago. Like most of the Saints and heroes of Sindh he is worshiped by Hindus and Muslims alike. This testifies to the non-sectarian nature of Sindhi culture, which through the ages has imbibed a variety of influences from both east and west. On the occasion of Sindhi New Year Day, celebrated as ‘Chetichand’, ‘Uderolal’ is prayed on the bank of some river and offered ‘Bahrana Sahib’ (offering to Sea God) with great dedication, devotion, dance and music etc.
Among the Sufi Saints the most famous is ‘Shah Abdul Latif of Bhitai’. Shah Sahib, as he is commonly called was born at Bhitai Sharif near Hala district Hyderabad, Sindh. He was a born Saint. He was a widely traveled Saint. He went to Himalayas and Hinglach with Hindu Saints and Yogis. He composed thousands of poems in the praise of the God. In his poems he also depicted social, economic customs, traditions of Sindh and influence of Hindu Saints and Hindu holy books on Shah Abdul Latif. His book on poems is well known as ‘Shah-Jo-Rasalo’. ‘Sachalsarmast’ was a top most Saint among the Sufi cult. He used to go into Vijad (Samadhi) during singing. He had also composed lot of poems advocating oneness of God and Hindu-Muslim unity. His book is known as ‘Sachal-J-Rasalo’. He had many miracles to his credit. Many Hindus also are his followers. He belonged to village ‘Daraza’, Khairpur Mir State near Sukkur, Sindh. To mention other Sufi Saints most important are Qutub Shah, Miskin Bedal and Bekas and Doctor Rochaldas Mansharamani of Rohari.
Among the Hindu Saints and poets ‘Sami Sahib’ was the king and crown. His full name was Dalpatrai and he belonged to Shikarpur. Sami Sahib was ‘family guru’ of the author. The author very well remembers to have received a ‘guru mantra’ from the descendant of Sami Sahib at his village in Sindh. Sami Sahib wrote poems and poetry of high caliber, of ‘bhakti’ and deep devotion to Lord. His book is respected, revered and read almost daily in the Sindhi families. His compilation is named as ‘Sami-Ja-Salok’ or the ‘Hymns of Sami Sahib’.
Modern Sindhi culture is based on this famous trio ‘Sami-Sachal and Shah’. Kishanchand Bewas was the father of modern Sindhi poetry. Among the Hindu Saints, famous Saints of Sindh are ‘Saint Vasan Shah’ and ‘Paru Shah’ of Rohari, Saint Villayatram of Kamber, Swami Devidas and Dharamdas of Manjhand, Sadhu Hiranand and Sadhu T.L. Vaswani of Hyderabad, Saint Moolaram of Malheer, Saint Teoonram of Tandoadam, Saint Swaroop Das of Halani Bellan, Swami Harnamdass of Sadhubela, Sukkur, was a great ‘Yogi’ and ‘Tapasvi’, Saint Khotaram and Satramdas were the renowned and great ‘Bhaktas’ from Raharki Sahib in Sukkur district. With the blessings of Saint Khotaram and Satramdass, Kanwarram became a great spiritual master and humble servant of humanity. Kanwarram is considered to be a gem and jewel among the Saints of Sindh and a shining star in the Saintly Galaxy of Sindh.