History
Steeped in History:
The Century Old Sikh Orphanage of Amritsar
by PARUL SHARMA SINGH
As perhaps one of the oldest orphanages in the region, Central Khalsa Orphanage - established way back in 1904 in Amritsar, Punjab - has a lot of history associated with it, much like several other places of this city.
The great hero of the Independence struggle, Shaheed Udham Singh, lived here with his brother (who died a few years later) between 1907 and 1919, studying up to matriculation and honing his carpentry skills alongside.
Udham Singh and his classmates were sent from the orphanage for seva to carry the dead bodies of innocent victims of the infamous Jallianwala Bagh massacre on Vaisakhi day in 1919. This mindless carnage greatly agitated his young mind and 21 years later he went all the way to London and shot dead Sir Michael O’ Dwyer, who as the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab endorsed General Dyer’s ordering of his troops to fire at unarmed gathering in Amritsar.
Honouring its famous ward, the orphanage later set up the Shaheed Udham Singh Memorial Secondary School and a library on its campus.
The orphanage is currently home to 335 children, including 27 who are blind. (Some widowed, impoverished mothers have also been sending their kids here owing to their inability to raise them.)
“We get children from all over India, from Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, even Nepal. We take them in from the age of six without any consideration of caste or creed,” assures Sardar Sarabjit Singh, member-in charge of the orphanage that is run under the aegis of the socio-religious organisation, Chief Khalsa Diwan.
From a rented one-room 108 years ago to a five-acre complex in 2012, the orphanage today houses a secondary school equipped with a playground, Surma Singh Ashram (Home for the blind), Bhai Veer Singh Gurmat Vidyala (teaching a Gurmat Sangeet diploma course including gurbani and Sikh history to both outsiders and orphans), a gurdwara and a guest house.
Food, lodging, books, uniforms, clothes, are all provided free of cost to the children. The younger ones have elderly women in the role of ‘house mothers’ to take care of them. Beside education, the kids are encouraged to play a sport and pick up a vocational or musical training to make them more employable.
“We support the education of all those children who wish to pursue their studies after Class X. One of our boys is doing LLB. Another alumnus has just joined us back as an art teacher,” says Dr. Balbir Singh Saini, superintendent of the orphanage.
In another unique initiative, the blind home at the orphanage houses the holy Guru Granth Sahib in the Braille language. This was made possible thanks to former student Bhai Gurmej Singh, who despite being visually impaired went on to become a world-famous raagi.
Raagis are minstrels skilled in the singing shabads from the Guru Granth Sahib. They are named as such because all the compositions in the Sikh Scripture are set to classical raags and are to be sung accordingly.
The orphanage, in fact, has produced several eminent ragis associated with the Darbar Sahib and other gurdwaras of the world, along with scores of musicians.
[Courtesy: The Hindu newspaper. Edited for sikhchic.com]
March 17, 2012
Conversation about this article
1: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), March 17, 2012, 12:47 PM.
What an institution! And how appropriately in Amritsar!
2: Taran (London, United Kingdom), March 18, 2012, 7:54 AM.
These institutions need all the help we can give them. Thanks for bringing this out to the readers' attention. Next time I visit Guru ki Nagri, I will try my best to go and contribute. Just look at the picture in black and white. All the kids look like princes. I wonder what happens to the girls in need?
3: Harpreet Singh (Delhi, India), March 18, 2012, 3:36 PM.
Proud of such great institutions and their great gursikh founders. The Chief Khalsa diwan also used to hold regular, serious discussions every year under the banner of The Sikh Educational Conference to educate the community. Sorry to say this spirit is not visible in present day Sikh leadership. They will do more constructions, make buildings air conditioned, put gold on gurdwara walls, sometimes start a small dispensary or poly clinic, etc. But no real efforts to educate Sikh children. There are hundreds of thousands of Sikh children belonging to poor Sikligar and Vvanjara communities, for example, but no major effort for their upliftment. Only a few private individuals or very small organizations are attempting to do something for them. Please publish articles and details of such gursikhs so that the sangat can have some alternative to putting their hard earned money for the real benefit of Sikhs instead of increasing bank balances of gurdwara committees.
4: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), March 18, 2012, 5:22 PM.
Here is where the teachings of the Sikhs get down to business. Like Pingalwara, this is another great institution that has no equal. "neechaa(n) andar neech jaat neechee hoo at neech/ nanaak tin kai sang saath vadi-aa si-o ki rees/ jitha neech samaalee-an tithai nadir tayree bakhsees" [GGS:15.8] - 'In that place where the lowly are cared for, blessings of Your Grace rain down: Nanak seeks the company of the very lowest of the low. Why shall he try to compete with the great?" Is there anything else to say?
5: Gurbir Kaur (United Kingdom), November 02, 2013, 9:54 AM.
Looking forward to visiting this place soon.
6: Santokh Singh Dhalliwal (Malayisa), February 15, 2014, 9:00 AM.
I would like to learn more about the Sikh orphan children in India and/or elsewhere. Wish I could contribute ...
7: Loveleen Kaur (Allahbad, India), August 30, 2014, 1:11 AM.
I want to work for this institution. How do I go about doing this?
8: Anurag Prashar (Ludhiana, Punjab), November 29, 2014, 12:50 AM.
You are doing great work. God bless you.
9: Kuldeep Singh (Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India), December 23, 2015, 9:00 AM.
Do you allow parents deprived of a child to adopt one from your orphanage?
10: Harini (Singapore), February 06, 2017, 11:58 PM.
My husband and kids (10, 12) will be in Amritsar for a week in mid March. We are very interested in volunteering at the orphanage. I am a training and development specialist and my husband is a regional strategist. We can teach sports, English, confidence, dance. Please advise.