TAPIYA SINGH, MAHANT

TAPIYA SINGH, MAHANT (1892-1980), was a master of the Sikh scholarly texts besides being learned in Ayurveda and Sanskrit grammar. He was born into a Saraojatt family of Lehal Kalan in Sangrur district. He was a descendant of ^ Baba Ark who had been blessed by Guru Tegh Bahadur himself. One of his ancestors, Bhai Mall Singh, was the founder Mahant of Dhamtan Sahib also known as the Deori (gateway) of Hazur Sahib, Nanded. 

His brother, Bhai Meva Singh, was the keeper of the shrine, commemorating the visit of Guru Tegh Bahadur to Lehal Kalan and the samadhi of Baba Ark, adjoining the shrine. Tapiya Singh had been a leading Sikh of the Bangar country. In the forties he received from the Sikh Sampradaya the historical tide of Mahant which had been denied to him by the rulers of Patiala state. Under his stewardship, Dhamtan Sahib became the rallying point of the region which now constitutes the heartland of Haryana.