| Odero Lal Shrine اوڈیرو لال درگاہ اڏيرو لال درگاه | |
|---|---|
 Uderolal Teerath Asthan | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Hinduism |
| District | Matiari |
| Province | Sindh |
| Leadership | Sain Preetam Das (Gadi Nasheen) |
| Location | |
| Location | Odero Lal Village |
| Country | Pakistan |
  Shown within Sindh Show map of Sindh Shrine at Odero Lal (Pakistan) Show map of Pakistan | |
| Geographic coordinates | 25°42′05″N68°33′41″E / 25.7013347°N 68.5614382°E /25.7013347; 68.5614382 |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Sufi mausoleum andHindu Temple |
| Style | Indo-Islamic,Sindhi Hindu |
| Completed | 1684C.E. |
TheShrine at Odero Lal (Urdu:اوڈیرو لال درگاہ;Sindhi:اڏيرو لال درگاه), also speltUdero Lal, is a jointMuslim-Hindu shrine located in the village of Odero Lal, near the city ofTando Adam Khan in thePakistani province ofSindh. The shrine is notable as it is jointly used for worship by members of both faiths,[1] while both communities also display reverence for the nearbyIndus River at the shrine.[2]
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Sindhi Muslims believe the saint interred at the shrine isSheikh Tahir. Hindus revere the interred saint as Odero Lal, but offer a different explanation for his origins. Hindus also refer to the saint in the shrine asJhulelal. It forms the seat of the Daryapanthis, originally a sub-sect of the followers ofGorakhnath, who belong to theNath tradition.[3][4] Both communities also refer to the saint by the alternate and religiously-neutral termZinda Pir, or "The Living Saint."[2]
The complex is home to both a Muslim shrine and Hindu temple. The joint arrangement was devised as a compromise to stem any conflict that might arise regarding the final religious rites for the corpse.[3]
The shrine caretakers hail from both the Muslim and Hindu communities. In the evening, Muslims offernamaz prayers at the shrine while Hindus performaarti andpuja prayers.[5] At the temple, a lamp is kept burning perpetually. On the appearance of the new moon, Hindus light lamps and worship the shrine deity, anavatar ofVaruna[6] at the nearby river, or other water bodies, with rice, sugar-candy, spices and fruits.[3]
According to Muslim tradition,Sheikh Tahir was born as a Hindu by the name of Odero Lal (alternatively spelledUdero Lal), but converted toIslam as a teenager.[7] Odero Lal in his youth was said to have been attracted the attention of aSufi saint fromMultan, whose association then lead Odero Lal to convert to Islam and adopt the name Sheikh Tahir.[7]
Hindus commonly refer to Odero Lal asJhulelal. According to Hindu tradition, a tyrannical ruler named Mirkh Shah from nearbyThatta ordered that local Hindus convert to Islam within 24 hours. Local Hindus, fearful of this edict, prayed at the banks of theIndus River, where they then saw a vision of the Hindu deityVaruna who informed the worshippers that he would re-incarnate himself as an infant to be born inNaserpur in order to deliver them from their hardships.[6]
The baby Jhulelal was then born on the first day of the Hindu month ofChaitra. Upon hearing of the infant's birth, Mirkh Shah commanded a Hindu minister named Ahirio to kill the infant with a poisoned rose petal. When Ahirio saw the infant, Jhulelal smiled and the poisoned rose petal blew out of Ahirio's possession. When Ahirio caught sight of Jhulelal for a second time, he was startled to see that the infant had grown into an elderly man. The elderly man was then said to have turned into a young man, and then a warrior on horseback before Ahirio's eyes.[8]
Ahirio returned to recount the story to Mirkh Shah, who then lambasted Ahirio, and told him to leave and call out for Jhulelal in villages and by the banks of the Indus River. Upon calling for Jhulelal, the warrior on horseback appeared out of the river to appear to Ahirio with an accompanying army. Terrified, Ahirio begged Jhulelal to restrain his army. Jhulelal's army then disappeared back into the river, while Ahirio went back to the palace to recount the story to Mirkh Shah. Mirkh Shah remained skeptical, but invited Jhulelal to his court with intent to forcefully convert Jhulelal. Jhulelal is then said to have vanished, leaving Mirkh Shah enraged. Mirkh Shah then ordered that all Hindus immediately convert to Islam. The Hindus then rushed to the house in Nasirpur where Jhulelal was born, and found Jhulelal there as an infant. The infant consoled the distraught Hindus and commanded them to assemble at a temple near the Indus River. Upon assembling, a firestorm broke out and engulfed Mirkh Shah's palaces. The king escaped to the banks of the river, where he found Jhulelal, now again a warrior, and his Hindu followers protected from the firestorm. The king fell at Jhulelal's feet, and Jhulelal dismissed the storm with the movement of his hand.[8]
Jhulelal is also believed by Sindhi Hindus to have performed miracles, such as entering the Indus river at Nasirpur, and coming up atBukkur, at the northernmost extent of Sindh.[9]