Bhagat Puran Singh (4 June 1904 – 5 August 1992) was an Indian writer, environmentalist, and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

. As a young man he decided to dedicate his life to humanitarian work, and in 1947, he established

Pingalwara Pingalwara is a house for destitutes in Amritsar in northern Indian state of Punjab. It is housed in a three-storey building near the main Amritsar bus stand on the National Highway no. 1, also known as G.T. Road. In this house all the handic ...

, a home for the sick and disabled in

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

. He was also an environmental campaigner, raising awareness of pollution and

soil erosion Soil erosion is the denudation or wearing away of the upper layer of soil. It is a form of soil degradation. This natural process is caused by the dynamic activity of erosive agents, that is, water, ice (glaciers), snow, air (wind), plants, and ...

and writing many books about environmental topics.

Early life

Bhagat Puran Singh was born in Rajewal ( Rohno)

Ludhiana district Ludhiana district is one of the 23 districts in the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. It is Punjab's largest district by both area and population. Ludhiana, the largest city in Punjab, is the district headquarters. The main industries are ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

. Born into a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

family, he was given the name Ramji Das as a child, but later in his childhood converted to

Sikhism Sikhism (), also known as Sikhi ( pa, ਸਿੱਖੀ ', , from pa, ਸਿੱਖ, lit=disciple', 'seeker', or 'learner, translit=Sikh, label=none),''Sikhism'' (commonly known as ''Sikhī'') originated from the word ''Sikh'', which comes fro ...

, taking the name Bhagat Puran Singh. After the death of his father, his mother encouraged him to finish the matric level of education, which would allow him to obtain a government job. His mother worked as a domestic help in the house of a doctor at Montgomery (

Sahiwal Sahiwal (Punjabi language, Punjabi and ur, ), formerly known as Montgomery, is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the List of most populous cities in Pakistan, 21st largest city of Pakistan by population and the administrative capital of both ...

), in part to pay for her son's education. Later, she moved to

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

, where she cleaned utensils in households, sending ten rupees per month to Puran Singh, who was living in a hostel. He failed his tenth class and was called back to

to attend a local school. Though uninterested in his school education, he spent much time reading in the Dyal Singh Library.

Humanitarian work

While in

, he began visiting the

Gurdwara A gurdwara (sometimes written as gurudwara) (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ''guradu'ārā'', meaning "Door to the Guru") is a place of assembly and worship for Sikhs. Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as ''Gurdwara Sahib''. People from all faiths ...

Dehra Sahib, providing water for visitors to wash before entering, helping manage the Gurdwara's cattle, cleaning, and working in the kitchen.. While working at the Gurdwara, he decided to dedicate himself to humanitarian work. In 1934, Bhagat Puran Singh took into his care a four-year-old child with leprosy who had been left at the door of Gurdwara Dehra Sahib, who he named Piara Singh. After the partition of India in 1947, Bhagat Puran Singh worked as a medic in a refugee camp in

, home to over 25,000 refugees. From 1947 till 1958, Bhagat Puran Singh had no permanent home, but walked the streets collecting donations for the poor. During this time he met Des Raj Bindra, with whom he founded a charitable organisation, the All India Pingalwara Charitable Society. This institution still provides charity care for the poor and handicapped at Tehsilpura,

Grand Trunk road The Grand Trunk Road (formerly known as Uttarapath, Sarak-e-Azam, Shah Rah-e-Azam, Badshahi Sarak, and Long Walk) is one of Asia's oldest and longest major roads. For at least 2,500 years it has linked Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. ...

Environmentalism

Puran Singh also worked for the care of the environment, organising tree planting drives, organised talks and lectures on environment topics, and writing books, such as ''Education of man'', ''Righteousness alone exalts a nation'', ''Plant or Perish'', ''The Way'', and ''The Increasing Population''. He distributed free pamphlets and books about environmental issues through the Pingalwara Society.

Later life and honours

He was honoured in 1981 by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

with the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

award, given for exceptional and distinguished service in any field. He was among the citizens of India who returned their awards and medals after the Indian army's attack on the Golden Temple in 1984. He was nominated for the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...

in 1991 for his humanitarian work. Bhagat Puran Singh died on 5 August 1992 in

Legacy

The Bhagat Puran Singh Chair for Studies in Selfless Service to Humanity was established at

Guru Nanak Dev University The university is Entitled by University Grants Commission to offer higher studies degree courses online. Guru Nanak Dev University's campus is spread over near village of Kot Khalsa, nearly west of the Amritsar, next to Khalsa College, A ...

in 2005. Commemorative postage stamps of Bhagat Puran Singh were released by the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology in 2004. The stamp is in the denomination of Rs five.

Media depictions

Bhagat Puran Singh was depicted in the movie '' Eh Janam Tumhare Lekhe'', with

Pavan Malhotra Pavan Malhotra (born 2 July 1958) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films and television alongside Punjabi and few Telugu films. He has played lead roles in Buddhadeb Dasgupta's National Film Award-winning '' Bagh Bahadur'' and Saeed Akht ...

in the leading role. The movie was released on 30 January 2015.

References

External links

Pingalwara

Gallery on Bhagat Puran Singh Jee

Biography on Pingalwara.ca

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Bhagat Puran 1904 births 1992 deaths Punjabi people Indian environmentalists Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work Indian Sikhs Sikh writers People from Ludhiana district Writers from Amritsar Converts to Sikhism Converts to Sikhism from Hinduism Indian former Hindus Social workers Social workers from Punjab, India