Jhulasan

Name

According to Hasmukh Dhirajlal Sankalia, the name Jhulāsaṇ may be identical to the Kūlāvasaṇa mentioned in medieval epigraphy. Assuming this is the case, then the name is ultimately derived from Sanskrit vasaṇa, meaning "dwelling" or "residence" (of either an individual or a group). There is another belief that some travelers were going from one place to another and decided to rest at this place and made Jula, (swing hanging from the branch of a tree) and liked the place and decided to settle down so they gave the name of this place Jhulasan.

Demographics

Jhulasan is an important Railway station between Ahmedabad and Delhi via Mehsana railway route. There are large petroleum wells in this village's land area. It has a population of about 5,000. The majority of the residents are farmers. More than 2500 people from Jhulasan have migrated to the USA and Canada. Other families have migrated to the nearby cities of Kalol, Ahmedabad, and Gandhinagar.

American astronaut Sunita Williams(Pandya)' father, Deepakbhai Pandya, a doctor in Boston, migrated to the USA in the early 1960s.

There are other prominent residents of this village including Kanubhai Lalbhai Patel who is a mechanical engineer and lives in Canada, Mahavir Shankarlal Patel, a mechanical engineer working at NIH, USA, as Supervisory Mechanical Engineer, Dineshbhai Mathurbhai Patel, retired professor of chemistry at science college in Nadiyad, India, Dr. Bhikhabhai Chhanabhai Patel who is a prominent doctor in Ahmedabad, India, Dr. Ashokbhai Desai(MBBS, MD, M.CH), Piyushbhai B. Barot who is well-known Teacher(Chemistry) and speaker, Vishalbhai K. Panchal who is principal at Jhulasan Primary School, Prof.Vimal P. Prajapati(Physics) and many more.

Background

Jhulasan is one of the most developed villages in Kadi Taluka, district Mehsana of Gujarat state, in India. The majority of the population in this village are Patels. Thakor, Prajapati, Raval, Rabari, Gajjars, Suthars, Barots, and Ravals are minorities. About 350 families, mostly patels, have migrated to USA and Canada. Every two years, there is a get-together (reunion) in the USA for families who have migrated to the USA and Canada. The last reunion was in 2022 in Atlantic City, NJ and the next reunion was held in 2024 in Boston, USA.

Temples

There are many large temples in this village. The Dola Mata (goddess) temple is the biggest one and is worldwide popular. There is a Swaminarayan Temple (Under Nar Narayan Dev Gadi), Radha Vallabh Temple (Radhe Radhe), Ramji Mandir, Sat Kaival Ashram, Gogleshvar Mahadev, Nilkantheswar Mahadev Temple (Mahadev Vas) with Shitla Mata and Hanuman Temple, Pipaleshavar Mahadev Temple, Narayan Mahadev Temple, Varahi Mata Temple, Vihat Mata Temple and few other temples.

Education

Jhulasan Anupam Prathmik Shala(primary school) provides education from 1st to 8th grade. This school is almost 118 years old. On the auspicious day of Dashera 2023, Kusumben and Bharatbhai did a groundbreaking (Khat Muhurta) to build a brand new primary school and they donated Rupees one crore eleven lakhs and hence the school will be named Kusumben Bharatbhai Bhaktibhai Dr. Parivar. Many other residents have donated generously to this cause. The total cost to build a new school will be around six crore rupees. The C.P. Gajjar High School provides education from 9th grade to 11th grade. To get a higher education after that, one has to go to the nearby village Pansar or Vadu or the cities of Kalol or Ahmedabad. From 1870 to 1910, Primary School was at Nilkanth Mahadev Temple (Mahadev Vas). The current Jhulasan Prathmik School was built in 1910 by Maharaja Sayajirao since Jhulasan village belonged to Gaikavad Sarkar. In 1965, Maganlal Chimanlal Gajjar (Suthar) built C. P. Gajjar High School in memory of his late brother Chimanlal Purushottamdas Gajjar, so the school name is C. P. Gajjar High School.

References

References

1. (1949). "Studies in the Historical and Cultural Geography and Ethnography of Gujarat". Deccan College.
2. (21 September 2007). "Sunita Williams visits her ancestral village in Gujarat".
3. Yagnik, Bharat. (4 April 2013). "In Sunita Williams’s native village, goddess Dola Mataji is a Muslim woman". The Times of India.