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

orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusi ...

for boys in

Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...

, India, established in 1904 by the

Chief Khalsa Diwan The Chief Khalsa Diwan ( C.K.D.) or Chief Khalsa Diwan Charitable Society ( C.K.D.C.S.) is a Sikh organisation that is the central organization of various Singh Sabhas spread across Punjab, India. Unlike the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Com ...

. 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 or gurudwara () is a place of assembly and place of worship, worship in Sikhism, but its normal meaning is "place of guru" or "home of guru". Sikhism, Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as ''Gurdwara Sahib''. People from all faiths and rel ...

. 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 March ...

who, during some of his childhood and teens, resided at the orphanage. The orphanage has produced several Sikh musicians associated with the

Golden Temple The Golden Temple is a gurdwara located in Amritsar, Punjab, India. It is the pre-eminent spiritual site of Sikhism. It is one of the Holy place, holiest sites in Sikhism, alongside the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Kartarpur, Pakistan, ...

and other gurdwaras. It houses the first

Guru Granth Sahib The Guru Granth Sahib (, ) is the central holy religious scripture of Sikhism, regarded by Sikhs as the final, sovereign and eternal Guru following the lineage of the ten human gurus of the religion. The Adi Granth (), its first rendition, w ...

published in

braille Braille ( , ) is a Tactile alphabet, tactile writing system used by blindness, blind or visually impaired people. It can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille displays that connect to computers and smartphone device ...

transliterated 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 ...

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 (W ...

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 no ...

, students are also taught

Sikh history Guru Nanak founded the Sikhism, Sikh religion in the Punjab region of the northern part of the Indian subcontinent in the 15th century and opposed many traditional practices like fasting, janeu, Upanayana, idolatry, caste system in India, caste ...

, classical Indian music and

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

, 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 transformatio ...

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 Grand Trunk Road (formerly known as Uttarapath, Sadak-e-Azam, Shah Rah-e-Azam, Badshahi Sadak, 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. It r ...

, 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 Sardar Bahadur Sir Sundar Singh Majithia (17 February 1872 – 2 April 1941) was a Punjabi landowner and politician. Biography He was born to an aristocratic Sher-Gill Jat Sikh family, the son of Raja Surat Singh of Majitha. He was ed ...

and

Bhai Vir Singh Vir Singh (5 December 1872 – 10 June 1957) was a Sikh poet, scholar and theologist of the Sikh revival movement, playing an important part in the renewal of Punjabi literary tradition. Family and personal life Born in 1872, in Amritsar, ...

. 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

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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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 Sikh ''kirta''n with Indian harmoniums and '' Kenya.html" ;"title="tabla'' drums (a common and popular pairing), in Kenya">tabla'' drums (a common and popular pairing), in Kenya (1960s) ''Kirtana'' (; ), also rendered as ''Kiirtan'', ''Kirt ...

. 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 (, pronunciation: , lit. the Guru's words) 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 Gu ...

, the

Sukhmani Sahib Sukhmani Sahib (), known under the title of Gauri Sukhmani in the scripture (named after the Gauri (raga), Gauri raga musical measure it belongs to), is usually translated to mean ''Prayer of Peace'' is a set of 192 ''Pada (foot), padas'' (stanz ...

, in

, which he presented in 1969 during

Gurpurb Gurpurab ( Punjabi: ਗੁਰਪੁਰਬ ), alternatively spelt as Gurpurb or Gurpurub, in Sikh tradition is a celebration of an anniversary of a Guru's birth marked by the holding of a festival. Gurpurab of Guru Nanak The birthday of Guru ...

. He later completed a

transliteration 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 → and → the digraph , Cyrillic → , Armenian → or L ...

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