Dharam Singh (15 February 1936 – 17 February 2025) (

Gurmukhi Gurmukhī ( , Shahmukhi: ) is an abugida developed from the Laṇḍā scripts, standardized and used by the second Sikh guru, Guru Angad (1504–1552). Commonly regarded as a Sikh script, Gurmukhi is used in Punjab, India as the official scrip ...

: ਧਰਮ ਸਿੰਘ ਨਿਹੰਗ ਸਿੰਘ,

Devnagri Devanagari ( ; in script: , , ) is an Indic script used in the Indian subcontinent. It is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the ancient ''Brāhmī'' script. It is one of the official scripts of India and ...

:धरम सिंघ निहंग सिंघ) is a

Nihang The Nihang (also spelt as Nihung lit. "Crocodiles") or Akali (lit. "Immortals"), also known as '' Dal Khalsa'', is an armed Sikh warrior order originating in the Indian subcontinent. Nihangs are believed to have originated either from Fateh Sin ...

theologian, writer, preacher known for exegesis and expositions of

Adi Granth 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 ...

and

Dasam Granth The ( Gurmukhi: ਦਸਮ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ''dasama gratha'') is a collection of various poetic compositions attributed to Guru Gobind Singh.

. Enrolled as

Budha Dal Dal Khalsa was the name of the combined military forces of 11 Sikh misls that operated in the 18th century (1748–1799) in the Punjab region. It was established by Nawab Kapur Singh in late 1740s. History Mughal rule of Punjab The religion o ...

, he worked as a secretary and participated in various religious conventions. He contributed the view of

Sikh Religion Sikhism is an Indian religion and philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religions and among the largest in the world with ...

on Human Rights in German Book, Menschenrechte im Weltkontext. In February 2015, he was the very first speaker of the dialogue series entitled ''Religion Matters'' established by the German

Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (, ; abbreviated BMZ) is a German Cabinet, cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. Its main office is at the former German Chancellery in Bonn with a second major of ...

(BMZ). On letter call from

SGPC The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee ( SGPC; Supreme Gurdwara Management Committee) is an organization in India responsible for the management of ''gurdwaras'', Sikh places of worship, in the states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and t ...

, he had written various articles in response to Gurbaksh Singh Kala Afghana, who spoke against

Amrit Amrit (), the classical antiquity, classical Marathus (, ''Marathos''), was a Phoenicians, Phoenician port located near present-day Tartus in Syria. Founded in the third millenniumBC, Marat (, ) was the northernmost important city of ancient Ph ...

and

Dasam Granth The ( Gurmukhi: ਦਸਮ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ''dasama gratha'') is a collection of various poetic compositions attributed to Guru Gobind Singh.

. He started Sachkhoj Academy which provides platform for independent researchers of

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 ...

to perform unbiased research, and learning to use the Adi Granth dictionary lexical resource for the exegesis. Singh died on 17 February 2025, at the age of 89.

Early life and education

He was born at Manupur-Goslan, Khanna, Punjab to Bhagwan Singh and Harnam Kaur. At Khanna, he had his primary education and matriculated from AS High School in 1954. In 1956, he completed his Intermediate with

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

as his major.

Life and works at Buddha Dal

He belongs to a Nihang family. His paternal uncles (Taya and Chacha) and first cousin served as

. His taya was jathedar of Budha Dal,

Samrala Samrala is a city and a municipal council in Ludhiana district in the Indian state of Punjab. It is about 35 km east of the district headquarters Ludhiana, on the highway to Chandigarh. Samrala is a Class III Municipality. It is also known f ...

Circle. Among others, Dharam Singh used to have discussions on Banis in Das Granthi with his coeval nephew. In 1960, Dharam Singh began to participate in religious gatherings called Jorh Melas, with

. In 1962, he enrolled as a Nihang in Budha Dal at

Hola Mohalla Hola Mohalla (Gurmukhi: ਹੋਲਾ-ਮਹੱਲਾ ''hōlā muhalā''), also called Hola, is a three-day long Sikh festival which normally falls in March. It takes place on the second day of the lunar month of Chett, usually a day after the ...

function in

Anandpur Sahib Anandpur Sahib, also referred simply as Anandpur (), is a city in Rupnagar district (Ropar), on the edge of Shivalik Hills, in the Indian state of Punjab. Located near the Sutlej River, the city is one of the most sacred religious places in Si ...

, after Akhand Path of

Dasam Granth The ( Gurmukhi: ਦਸਮ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ''dasama gratha'') is a collection of various poetic compositions attributed to Guru Gobind Singh.

. He served as a secretary in the Dal, which was under command of

Akali Chet Singh Jathedar Baba Chet Singh (1914–1968) was a Nihang and was 12th Jathedar of Budha Dal after Baba Sahib Ji Kaladhari. He was born in 1914 at Talwandi. His father's name was Gurdit Singh and mother was Pradhan Kaur.Page 24, The Sikh Courie ...

, and used to manage ledgers and other paper work, being among the most formally educated in the Dal during that time. In 1965, he participated in ''Path Antar Masla'' and ''Pothi Mangal'' conventions along with Buddha Dal representations and offered various suggestions on both topics

Gurbani research and Sachkhoj Academy

He continued his research of Gurbani, led by the guidance in it such as, ਏਨਾ ਅਖਰਾ ਮਹਿ ਜੋ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਬੂਝੈ ਤਿਸੁ ਸਿਰਿ ਲੇਖੁ ਨ ਹੋਈ ॥੨॥(

, 432) and ਬਿਦਿਆ ਸੋਧੈ ਤਤੁ ਲਹੈ ਰਾਮ ਨਾਮ ਲਿਵ ਲਾਇ॥ (Adi Granth, 938): he concluded that

is self-contained and that it provides its own explanations by itself. That the exposition of Gurbani can only be conducted best taking the ‘formless being’ as focal point, and not like the way the subject has been treated in the previous Expositions. From 1970-92, he had discourses with people of various religious affiliations like

Yogi A yogi is a practitioner of Yoga, including a sannyasin or practitioner of meditation in Indian religions.A. K. Banerjea (2014), ''Philosophy of Gorakhnath with Goraksha-Vacana-Sangraha'', Motilal Banarsidass, , pp. xxiii, 297–299, 331 ...

Bairagi Bairagi Brahmin or Vaishnav Bairagi or Vaishnav Brahmin is a Hindu caste. They are Hindu priests. They are sedentary rasik (temple dwelling or temple priest) Brahmin members of the Vaishnava sampradayas, especially the Ramanandi Sampradaya. Acc ...

s, Kabirpanthis,

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

s, Pundits etc., during his stay in

Garhmukteshwar Garhmukteshwar is a town, just outside of Hapur city, and tehsil in Hapur district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. According to Census 2011 information the sub-district code of Garhmukteshwar block is 00741. Total area of Garhmukteshwar ...

, (

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

). In 1992, he returned to Khanna and started Gurmat classes on request of Bhai Iqbal Singh of Missionary College after their mutual discussions. In 1994, Sachkhoj Academy came into being.

Literary works

Books

* Naad Ved Vichar - Punjabi Language, Teeka of Japji Sahib * Sahij Samadhi Banaam Sunn Samadhi - Punjabi Language, Teeka of

Sidh Goshti Sidh Gosti (, pronunciation: , , lit. discourse with Siddhas), also spelled as Sidh Goshti, Sidh Gosht, or Sidh Gosat, is a famous spiritual interfaith dialogue between Guru Nanak and Nath Siddhas. The composition is present from Ang 938 to 946 in ...

* Menschenrechte im Weltkontext - German Language, on Human Rights in Sikh Religion *

Jaap Sahib Jaap Sahib (or Japu Sahib; , pronunciation: ) is the morning prayer of the Sikhs. The beaded prayers were composed by the Tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh and is found at the start of the Sikh scripture Dasam Granth. This Bani is an impor ...

- Punjabi Language, c.2015 Dalbara Singh Pannu, on refined Teeka/ translation of

Articles

On request of

, he had written various research articles which were published in Gurmat Prakash and also various magazines in Sikh world. Following are list of articles, taken from ''50 Year History of Gurmat Prakash'':Page 176-177, ''50 Saala Itihaas'':Gurmat Prakash, Balvinder singh Jodasingha and Simranjit Singh

References

External links

Read literature of Nihang Dharam Singh
{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Dharam Singh Nihang Nihang Scholars of Sikhism Sikh writers 1936 births 2025 deaths