The Central Khalsa Orphanage, also known as the Central Khalsa Yatimkhana, is an

orphanage An orphanage is a Residential education, residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the Childcare, care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parent ...

for boys 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 ...

, India, established in 1904 by the

Chief Khalsa Diwan The Chief Khalsa Diwan is a 117-year-old Sikh organisation, which is the central Organization of various Singh Sabhas spread across Punjab, India. Unlike the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee, the Diwan is an apolitical body and only conc ...

. It is located on a plot of land covering five acres and has a secondary school, sports facilities, a home for the blind, a guest house, a library and a

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 ...

. There is also a re-creation of the room of Indian revolutionary

Udham Singh Udham Singh (born Sher Singh; 26 December 1899 — 31 July 1940) was an Indian revolutionary belonging to Ghadar Party and HSRA, best known for assassinating Michael O'Dwyer, the former lieutenant governor of the Punjab in India, on 13 Mar ...

who, during some of his childhood and teens, resided at the orphanage. The orphanage has produced several Sikh musicians associated with the Golden Temple and other gurdwaras. It houses the first

Guru Granth Sahib The Guru Granth Sahib ( pa, ਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਸਾਹਿਬ, ) is the central holy religious scripture of Sikhism, regarded by Sikhs as the final, sovereign and Guru Maneyo Granth, eternal Guru following the lineage of the Sikh gur ...

published in

braille Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are Blindness, blind, Deafblindness, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on Paper embossing, embossed paper ...

transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or ...

by Bhai Gurmej Singh who was resident at the orphanage in the 1950s after he became blind from

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

at the age of ten. In 2012 the orphanage was noted to have 335 children, of which 27 were blind. In addition to general education up to

matriculation Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now ...

, students are also taught

Sikh history Guru Nanak founded the Sikh faith in the Punjab region of the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, and present-day Pakistan, in the end of fifteenth century. He was first of the ten Sikh Gurus. The tenth, Guru Gobind Singh, formalised its pr ...

, classical Indian music and

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

, and are eventually

initiated Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformation ...

Background

The

was established in 1902 and setting up the orphanage was one of its first tasks. The Central Khalsa Orphanage for boys opened on 11 April 1904, in a rented single room. It is situated on the

GT 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. ...

, Putlighar, Amritsar. In 2012 it was noted to have 335 children, of which 27 were blind. People considered significant in establishing the orphanage include Sundar Singh Majithia and

Bhai Vir Singh Bhai Vir Singh (5 December 1872 – 10 June 1957) was an Indian poet, scholar, and theologian of the Sikh revival movement, playing an important part in the renewal of Punjabi literary tradition. Singh's contributions were so important and in ...

. In 1907, the orphanage housed around a dozen children and the superintendent was Sohan Singh, the son of a railway worker. Music teacher Bhai Sain Ditta taught there from 1914 to 1932. Its motto has been "Be a man. Make your way. Make us proud." Since 1904, the orphanage has produced several Sikh musicians associated with the Golden Temple and other gurdwaras.

Udham Singh

The orphanage records confirm that the Indian revolutionary Udham Singh and his older brother, Mukta, were accepted and

on 28 October 1907. This date is sometimes reported as 24 October. It was their home during some of their childhood and teens. There, their daily routine included waking at 4 a.m., washing in cold water, followed by two hours of prayers, a basic breakfast and then formal lessons. In 1917, Mukta developed a sudden illness and died at the orphanage. Udham Singh left the orphanage in 1917 to serve Britain in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and returned to the orphanage from the War twice; first after less than six months and then after a year in early 1919. His original room has since been demolished; a re-creation of the room has been constructed as a museum in his memory. The Shaheed Udham Singh Memorial Secondary School, opened in 2015 on the campus, is named for him.

School for blind boys

In 1936

established a school for blind boys, the Surma Singh Ashram, within the orphanage, with the purpose of teaching

kirtan Kirtana ( sa, कीर्तन; ), also rendered as Kirtan, is a Sanskrit word that means "narrating, reciting, telling, describing" of an idea or story, specifically in Indian religions. It also refers to a genre of religious performance arts ...

. The ragi Bhai Gurmej Singh, who had been sent to the orphanage in 1950 at age ten after becoming blind from

, learnt braille at the orphanage. He produced the first

Gurbani Gurbani ( pa, ਗੁਰਬਾਣੀ) is a Sikh term, very commonly used by Sikhs to refer to various compositions by the Sikh Gurus and other writers of Guru Granth Sahib. In general, hymns in the central text of the Sikhs, the Guru Granth Sahib, ...

, the

Sukhmani Sahib Sukhmani Sahib ( pa, ਸੁਖਮਨੀ ਸਾਹਿਬ) is usually translated to mean ''Prayer of Peace'' is a set of 192 '' padas'' (stanzas of 10 hymns) present in the holy ''Guru Granth Sahib'', the main scripture and living Guru of Sikhism ...

, in

, which he presented in 1969 during

Gurpurb Gurpurab ( Punjabi: ਗੁਰਪੁਰਬ ) in Sikh tradition is a celebration of an anniversary of a Guru's birth marked by the holding of a festival. There are indications in the old chronicles that the gurus who succeeded Guru Nanak cele ...

. He later completed a

transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...

of the entire

in braille, with the first version going to the orphanage.

Later years

In 2012 the orphanage comprised a complex with a secondary school, sports facilities, a library, home for the blind, a guest house, a school for teaching Gurbani and Sikh history, and a

. It also has a computer lab. Students at the orphanage are aged between six and eighteen. They are taught Indian classical music, general secondary education, Sikh history and theology, and are eventually initiated. Following matriculation, students may study further at the Khalsa School for Higher Education.

References

External links