VISAKHA SINGH, SANT

VISAKHA SINGH, SANT (1905-1968), holy preacher of the Sikh faith, was born at the village of Janetpura, in Ludhiana district, on 13 April 1903, the son of Karam Singh and Kahn Kaur, though most of his adult life was spent at Kishanpura, in Firozpur district. He had his early education at the village gurdwara where he learnt to read the Guru Granth Sahib and recite kirtan. The massacre of reformist Sikhs in the shrine at Nankana Sahib on 20 February 1921 proved a turning point in his life. He received the rites of Khalsa initiation at the Akal Takht at Amritsar and plunged into the Akali movement for the reform of Sikh shrines. In 1922, he was jailed for participating in the Guru ka Bagh morcha and in 1923 for taking part in the Jaito campaign. It was he who led the Panj Piare who hoisted the Nishan Sahib or Sikh flag at Gurdwara Tibbi Sahib at Jaito at the end of the morcha. A siropa or robe of honour was bestowed upon him, at the Akal Takht, Amritsar. Assuming the appellation of Sant Sipahi, Sant Visakha Singh now took to the preaching of Guru Nanak`s word and in 1944 established to this end a centre called Gurmat Pracharak Singh Sabha at Kishanpura Kalan, in Firozpur district, with branches in several other villages.

He also formed Guru Nanak Dev Education Society at Janet, in Firozpur, and opened schools in rural and backward areas. Besides the Malva Itihas, a 3volume work, covering various aspects of Sikh history, especially relevant to the Malva region, Sant Visakha Singh published a series of tracts bearing on Sikh theology and religion. Sant Visakha Singh died on 15 August 1968 at Kishanpura.

References :

1. Visakha Singh, Sant, Malva Itihas. Kishanpura, 1954