Sant Atar Singh (Mastuana)

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Sant Atar Singh (1866-1927), of Mastūĝṇĝ, the most charismatic figure in latter-day Sikh piety, was born on 13 March 1866 in the village of Chīmĝ, in Saṅgrūr district of the Punjab. His father, Karam Siṅgh, was a farmer of modest means and could not afford to send him to a school in town. So Atar Siṅgh was apprenticed to Bhĝī Būṭĝ Siṅgh, head of the Nirmalĝ ḝerĝ or monastery of Bhĝī Rĝm Siṅgh, in his own village. He acquired proficiency in the Sikh religious texts and also read philosophical treatises such as the Vichĝr Sĝgar. Side by side with his progress in Sikh learning, he developed a deeply religious cast of mind. While tending his cattle, he would become absorbed in reciting hymns from the Gurū Granth Sĝhib.

At the age of seventeen, Atar Siṅgh enlisted as a gunner in the Artillery, later getting himself transferred to the 54th Sikh Battalion stationed at Kohĝṭ. There he received Sikh initiation in the cantonment gurdwĝrĝ and continued his study of the Scripture under the guidance of its granthī, Bhĝī Jodh Siṅgh. He was still in the army when he took a vow not to marry.

This was a stimulating period of time in the Punjab. English education and Christian missionary activity had created a new ferment. The Arya Samaj was the Hindu response to the situation and the Singh Sabha represented the Sikh reaction. Atar Siṅgh became involved in the Siṅgh Sabhĝ's dual concerns of restoring the purity of Sikh belief and customs and rejuvenating Sikh society. He also, at the same time promoted Western style education among the Sikhs. In the first instance, he went on a pilgrimage to Srī Hazūr Sĝhib at Nĝndeḝ, sacred to the memory of Gurū Gobind Siṅgh. In 1888, Atar Siṅgh was placed on the reserve list, but by 1891, he he managed to have his name struck off the rolls of the army so he could devote himself solely to preaching the holy message of the Gurūs.

He toured extensively in Jammū and Kashmīr, Sindh and the North-West Frontier Province. In the Poṭhohĝr region, many Sikhs and Hindus received pĝhul at his hands. Master Tĝrĝ Siṅgh, who later became famous as a political leader, and Bhĝī Jodh Siṅgh, an eminent educationist, were administered the rites of Khĝlsĝ baptism by him at Ḍerĝ Khĝlsĝ. In Jammū and Kashmīr, he visited Srīnagar, Mīrpur and other towns which had Sikh populations. At Peshĝwar, in the North-West Frontier Province, he was received with honour not only by the Hindus and the Sikhs, but also by the Paṭhĝns. Sant Kalyĝṇ Siṅgh of Peshĝwar became a devotee. In Sindh, he visited Sakkhar, Hyderĝbĝd and Karĝchī. In 1902, he established his main centre in the Mĝlvĝ region, at Gursĝgar Mastūĝṇĝ, near Saṅgrūr. By his extensive tours and his melodious and resonant recitations of the Gurūs' bĝṇī before vast audiences, he created a new religious fervour in the Sikh community. Many were impressed by his gentle and spiritual manner and were drawn into the fold of Sikhism. To receive baptism at his hands was considered especially meritorious. New gurdwĝrĝs sprang up at several places in the wake of Sant Atar Siṅgh's visits.

After 1920, Sant Atar Siṅgh focussed his attention on the area around Damdamĝ Sĝhib where Gurū Gobind Siṅgh had sojourned in 1706 before proceeding to the South. At Damdamĝ Sĝhib, he raised a magnificent buṅgĝ and turned it into a major centre for the propagation of Sikhism. He sent abroad four Sikh young men --- Tejĝ Siṅgh, Amar Siṅgh, Dharmĝnant Siṅgh and Harī Siṅgh Basrĝ --- for the twin purposes of receiving higher education and spreading the Gurūs' message. Tejĝ Siṅgh set up in London the Khĝlsĝ Jathĝ of the British Isles, and later went to the United States of America. He took his Master's degree at Harvard University and lectured on Sikhism widely in America and Canada, besides espousing the cause of Punjabi immigrants. Dharmĝnant Siṅgh received his Ph. D. degree from London University specializing in 'Platonic' studies.

The Khĝlsĝ College Committee, Amritsar, requested Sant Atar Siṅgh to represent it at the Delhi Darbĝr in 1911. However, he went to Delhi as a guest of the Mahĝrĝjĝ of Jīnd. He was a distinguished participant in the ceremonial procession taken out from Paṭiĝlĝ House in Delhi in which, apart from the people in general, the chiefs of Paṭiĝlĝ and Jīnd participated. As he rode on an elegantly caparisoned elephant, he looked the very picture of holiness. He was naturally the centre of attention, overshadowing the princes. The sacred hymn he was reciting on that occasion of extraordinary display of imperial power and panoply contrasted the infirmity of worldly rulers with the omnipotence of the God Almighty. The opening lines were:

None of the sovereigns equals Hari the Almighty;
All these worldly rulers last but a bare few days.
False are the claims they set up.
(GG, 856)

Equally with preaching the Word of the Gurūs, Sant Atar Siṅgh concerned himself with the promotion of modern education among Sikhs. He associated himself actively with the Sikh Educational Conference and participated in its annual sessions, presiding over that of 1915 at Fīrozpur. He helped found several institutions such as Khĝlsĝ High School, Lyallpur, Khĝlsĝ High School, Chakvĝl, Missionary College, Gujrĝṅwĝlĝ, Gurū Nĝnak Khĝlsĝ College, Gujrĝṅwĝlĝ, Mĝlvĝ Khĝlsĝ High School, Ludhiĝṇĝ, and Akĝl College, Mastūĝṇĝ. In 1914, he went to Banĝras at the invitation of Paṇḝit Madan Mohan Mĝlavīya to participate in the ceremonies for laying the foundation of the Sanskrit College.

Mahĝrĝjĝ Ripudaman Siṅgh of Nĝbhĝ, who was an admirer of Sant Atar Siṅgh took him to Vĝrĝṇasī in his own saloon car. Under the tent near the site of the college, Sant Atar Siṅgh performed a series of five akhaṇḝ pĝṭhs, or continuous, uninterrupted readings of the Gurū Granth Sĝhib and with Maharaja Ripudaman Singh saying the Rahrĝsi every evening. As these recitations of the Gurū Granth Sĝhib were concluded, Mahĝrĝjĝ Gaṅgĝ Siṅgh of Bīkĝner 'offered mortar' in a silver plate and Santjī used this to lay the eleven bricks of gold supplied by the Rĝjĝ of Kĝshī as the foundation of the building. After the ceremonies were over, Sant Atar Siṅgh remained in Vĝrĝṇasī for a week as the guest of the Rĝjĝ who treated him with deep reverence.

Sant Atar Siṅgh shared the Sikh community's wider social and religious concerns. He supported the Gurdwĝrĝ reform movement, and took part in the dīvĝn held at Nankana Sahib by the Shiromaṇī Gurdwĝrĝ Parbandhak Committee in honour of the Nankĝṇĝ Sĝhib martyrs in 1921. He was invited to attend the Bhog ceremonies at the conclusion of the Akĝlī morchĝ at Jaito. In a report prepared in 1911 by the intelligence department of the Government of India, Sant Atar Siṅgh was described as the inspiration behind the Tatt Khalsa movement among the Sikhs. It was to this school of reformist Sikhs that the origins of the Akĝlī movement can be traced.

On 31 January 1927, Sant Atar Siṅgh passed away at Saṅgrūr. His body was cremated at Mastūĝṇĝ where now a handsome monument in the form of a gurdwĝrĝ perpetuates his memory.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

  • Tejĝ Siṅgh, Jīvan Kathĝ Gurmukh Piĝre Sant Atar Siṅgh Jī Mahĝrĝj. Patiĝlĝ, 1970
  • Khĝlsĝ, Bhĝī Amar Siṅgh, Sant Atar Siṅgh Jī Mahĝrĝj. Lucknow, 1967
  • Balwant Siṅgh, Giĝnī, Agam Agĝdh Purakh Shrīmĝn Pūjya Sant Atar Siṅgh Jī Mĝhĝrĝj Mastūĝṇe vĝliĝṅ dĝ Sampūran Jivan Charittar. Mastuana 1983