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Was born on 12 February
1903, the son of Rur Singh of the village of Akhara, 6 km south
of Jagraori, in Ludhiana district of the Punjab. He learnt to read
and write Gurmukhi at the village gurdwara and helped his father
in fanning. He was married at the age of 18 and had two sons born
to him, but his dedication to Sikh lerarning led him to join Gurdwara
Sri Akhand Prakash, a seminary established by Sant Sundar Singh
at the village of Bhindar Kalan, 15 km north of Moga.
In due time he came to be known as the best
among Sant Sundar Singh's pupils. Well versed in Sikh lore and proficient
in discoursing upon the holy writ, he was chosen by the sangat,
after the death of Sant Sundar Singh on 15 February 1930, to head
the seminary at Bhindar Kalan. That is how he came to be known popularly
as Bhindranvale Sant, though personally he preferred to be called
Bhai (lit. brother), Khalsa or at the most Giani rather than Sant
(lit. saint). He continued his predecessor's mode of combining regular
teaching with itinerant preaching. Besides constructing or renovating
gurdwaras and sarovars at the town of Nabha, in Patiala district,
Manavali in Firozpur district and Panjokhara in Ambala district,
he conducted 1313 akhand paths or non-stop recitals of Guru Granth
Sahib, delivered serialized discourses on the entire Scripture 26
times over, and administered amrit or Sikh initiation rites to several
thousands of persons all over the country.
The twenty-seventh series of discourses was
in progress when Sant Gurbachan Singh breathed his last at the village
of Mahita, in Amritsar district, on 28 June 1969. His body was cremated
outside Gurdwara Patalpuri at Kiratpur Sahib on the following day.
His successor, Bhai Kartar Singh Khalsa, constructed in his memory
Gurdwara Gurdarshan Prakash at Mahita which became the headquarters
of the Bhindranvala Jatha. A religious fair is held there to mark
the death anniversary of Sant Gurbachan Singh on the 28th of June
every year.
Sant Gurbachan Singh Khalsa wrote two books.
Sri Gurmukh Prakash Granth in verse is a biography of Sant Sundar
Singh Bhindranvale along with a detailed rahit maryada or Sikh code
of conduct, while Gurbani Path Darshan combines biographical sketches
of the Gurus and some Sikh heroes with elucidation of some of the
hymns from the Guru Granth Sahib.
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