BHAGAT P

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EARLY LIFE AND BEGINNING Bhai Puran Singh was born in Rajewal (Rahon)

Ludhiana district, Punjab. Born into a Hindu family, he was given the name Ramjidas as a child. Later, while still a child, he choose to become a Sikh. Though he never finished his basic schooling, he became a writer, a (self) publisher, an environmentalist, and a philanthropist. He is perhaps best remembered for the home he founded in Amritsar, India, named Pinglawara, a home which long after his death, is still tending to the castaways of society: the sick, disabled and abandoned forlorn people.

As a young man he decided to dedicate his life to the 'selfless service of humanity'. He founded Pingalwara in 1947 with only a few patients, the neglected and rejected of the streets of Amritsar. An early advocate of what we today refer to as the 'Green Revolution', Bhagat Puran Singh was spreading awareness about environmental pollution, and increasing soil erosion long before such ideas became popular. Pamphlets with his writings on various subjects, such as environmental awareness, were printed on re-used paper and freely distributed.

SERVICE TO HUMANITY

While in Lahore, he would often visit the Gurdwara Dehra Sahib, where he would provide water for the visitors to the gurdwara to do the necessary cleaning before entry, and help in managing the cattle that provided milk for the Gurudwara's Langar, the common kitchen, in which he helped by cleaning the utensils, making chapatis or distributing food to the sangat (people coming to the Gurdwara). He even cleaned the floor of the Gurudwara in the evening.

One day, someone fell from the roof of the Gurdwara and was badly injured. Bhagat Puran Singh immediately rushed him to the local 'Mu Hospital'. Experiencing inner joy after helping the patient, he took a man with badly bleeding leg, full of vermin, to a hospital where he expressed his thanks to Ramjidas telling him, "Son! Now I can die a peaceful death." With this incident, the service of humanity became the mission of his life. Now he would wander here and there finding the injured, physically handicapped persons, taking them to the hospital. He also took care of them as his pocket and capability allowed. Once, he even washed the clothes of an old, poor beggar who was suffering from diarrhea.

On a moonless night in 1934, someone left a four year old child, a boy stricken with leprosy at the door of Gurdwara Dehra Sahib. After performing prayers for the child's wellbeing, the then Head Granthi of the Gurudwara, Jathedar Acchar Singh, handed him over to Ramjidas, who named the boy Piara Singh. Rather than handing the child over to a center for lepers, if any existed, Bhagat Puran Singh decided to care for and raise him himself. This incident was to completely transform the face of his life.

After the partition of India in 1947, Bhagat Puran Singh reached a refugee camp in Amritsar which housed over 25 000 refugees with just 5 annas(0.3 rupees) in his pocket. A large number of refugees were critically wounded and incapable of nursing themselves. The government didn't make any arrangements to take care of these refugees. Bhagat Puran Singh took the initiative, he took some chloroform and turpentine oil and started treating the wounds of these refugees. He would often go in the nearby colonies to get food for the hungry and medicine for the ill.

Bhagat Puran Singh was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, for his selfless work, feeding, clothing, and tending sick and dying people.

RELIGION

Born to Hindu parents who named him Ram ji dass, he embraced Sikhism and took up the name Puran Singh. He was greatly inspired by the teachings of Sri Guru Granth Sahib and the Sikh Gurus.

Bhagat Puran Singh, was born a Hindu, though he realized Sikhism via a simple observation. Whilst he was a child his family used to travel, from village to village. They took up residence in Mandirs (Hindu temples) and Gurdwaras (Sikh temples) in each village. In the Mandir, the high-caste priest (Brahman) ordered him to clean the temple, whilst the priest ate food in front of him without offering any. Whilst in the Gurdwara, the priest (Giani) gave the boy (Puran Singh) food without asking for anything in return. It is these subtle observations that changed his life.

DOCUMENTARIES

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4namn-Mb38

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7Gn_f46kDM

PLEASE WATCH !!

REFERENCE

http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/personalities/sewadars/puransingh.html

http://pingalwara.co/

http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Bhagat_Puran_Singh

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