Bhagat Puran Singh — The Life Behind Pingalwara

Bhagat Puran Singh is a name that deserves to be known far beyond the community he came from. Many know he founded Pingalwara. Fewer know the full story — how a boy from a struggling family in rural Punjab became one of the most recognised figures of selfless service in modern Indian history.

Early Life

Bhagat Puran Singh was born in the early 1900s in a small village in the Ludhiana region of Punjab. His father passed away when he was young, leaving his mother to raise him largely on her own. She worked hard — cleaning and washing in households in different cities — to fund her son's education.

On her deathbed, she extracted a promise: that he would dedicate his life to serving others. This promise defined everything that followed.

Conversion to Sikhi

Growing up, Bhagat Puran Singh was exposed to both Hinduism and Sikhi. The contrast he observed between the two shaped his worldview in a profound way. Where he experienced indifference and hierarchy in one place, the Gurdwara offered him food, warmth, and dignity — asking nothing in return. These experiences drew him toward Sikhi's message of equality.

He began doing seva at a Gurdwara in Lahore — carrying water for visitors, helping with the cattle, cleaning, cooking in the Langar, and serving food. He embraced the Sikh faith and took the name Puran Singh. Over time, the community came to know him as "Bhagat" — a title reflecting the deep reverence they held for him.

His formal education was cut short by poverty. But the Gurdwara became his university.

Piara Singh — 1934

The event that defined Bhagat Puran Singh's life came in 1934. A young child, afflicted with severe illness and disability, was left at the doorstep of a Gurdwara in Lahore. He was handed to Bhagat Puran Singh.

Rather than sending the boy away, Bhagat Puran Singh took him into his own care. He named him Piara Singh. The boy was unable to walk, speak, or control his body. Bhagat Puran Singh carried him on his back everywhere — through the streets of Lahore, through the chaos of Partition, and into his new life in Amritsar.

He carried Piara for fourteen years.

When asked about the burden, he answered simply: "He is like a garland around my neck." This phrase became the title of his most well-known biography — a book worth reading for anyone who wants to understand the depth of this man's character.

The act of carrying one abandoned child on his back became the metaphor for carrying all of society's abandoned on his shoulders.

Partition and Pingalwara

In 1947, Bhagat Puran Singh made the journey from Lahore to Amritsar during Partition — with Piara still on his back. In Amritsar, he worked in refugee camps, caring for the sick and displaced.

When the camps closed, those with no families — the sick, the disabled, the forgotten — were left behind. Bhagat Puran Singh refused to walk away from them. For years, he had no permanent building. He moved from one abandoned structure to another, always with a growing number of patients who had nowhere else to go.

He collected donations by standing outside Sri Darbar Sahib. Small coins from the Sangat sustained the operation. Slowly, with the support of the community, Pingalwara took root — and in the late 1950s, it was formally established as a charitable society.

The patients of Pingalwara were those rejected by everyone else: people with leprosy, severe mental illness, physical disabilities, and terminal conditions — many abandoned by their own families. By the time of Bhagat Puran Singh's death, Pingalwara had grown into a network of buildings, all funded by small donations from ordinary people.

Environmental Activism

Bhagat Puran Singh was an environmentalist decades before the term became mainstream. He wrote extensively about pollution, deforestation, soil erosion, and the dangers of unchecked population growth. He published many books and pamphlets through Pingalwara's own printing press — all of them rooted in a Sikhi that saw the care of creation as inseparable from the care of humanity.

He organised tree-planting drives and gave lectures on environmental topics at schools and community gatherings. Protecting the earth, for him, was part of protecting Waheguru's creation.

1984 and the Padma Shri

The Government of India recognised Bhagat Puran Singh with its Padma Shri award for exceptional service. But in June 1984, the Indian Army attacked Sri Darbar Sahib in Amritsar in what became known as Operation Blue Star. Sri Akal Takht Sahib was severely damaged. The Sikh Reference Library was destroyed.

Bhagat Puran Singh returned the Padma Shri. He wrote to the Government explaining that he could not hold an honour from a state that had attacked the most sacred site of his faith. His decision carried particular moral weight — this was a man whose life of service was beyond question, and yet he made no room for compromise on matters of faith and dignity.

Death and Legacy

Bhagat Puran Singh was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. He passed away in August 1992, in his late eighties.

He nominated Dr. Bibi Inderjit Kaur as his successor. Under her leadership, Pingalwara has expanded significantly, with branches across India and in countries including Canada, the United States, and Australia. Thousands of patients continue to receive daily care.

His story has been told through books, films, and commemorative honours. But the most meaningful testament to his life is Pingalwara itself — still running, still caring, still refusing to turn anyone away.

This summary is intended as an introduction to Bhagat Puran Singh's life. For a full and detailed account, we encourage you to seek out one of the biographies written about him — they are well worth reading.