Sant Attar Singh Ji

Founder

Founder of Akal Academy, Baru Sahib · Founder of The Kalgidhar Society — Baru Sahib

Sant Attar Singh Ji is the founder of Akal Academy, Baru Sahib [1] and The Kalgidhar Society — Baru Sahib (1956)[2], Indian non-profits working on education, healthcare, de-addiction, faith-based service and women & children from Baru Sahib.

Sant Attar Singh Ji (1866–1927), also written Sant Atar Singh of Mastuana, was a Sikh preacher and educationist in Punjab. He is regarded as the founding inspiration of the Akal Academy schools and of the institutions at Baru Sahib in Himachal Pradesh run by the Kalgidhar Trust and the Kalgidhar Society.

He argued for modern scientific education combined with spiritual and moral instruction, and helped establish a series of Khalsa schools and colleges in undivided Punjab during his lifetime.

Life

He was born on 28 March 1866 at Cheema, a village in the former Jind state, now in Sangrur district of Punjab. His father, Karam Singh, was a farmer of modest means, and rather than attend school in town he was placed with Bhai Buta Singh, head of a Nirmala monastery.

In 1902 he established his principal centre at Gursagar Mastuana, near Sangrur, in the Malwa region. He travelled widely across India preaching and reciting the Sikh scriptures, and arranged for preaching abroad. He died on 31 January 1927 at Sangrur and was cremated at Mastuana Sahib.

Educational work and legacy

He was involved in founding a number of Sikh educational institutions, among them Khalsa High School at Lyallpur, Khalsa High School at Chakwal, the missionary college and Guru Nanak Khalsa College at Gujranwala, Malwa Khalsa High School at Ludhiana and Akal College at Mastuana.

The Kalgidhar institutions trace their mission statement to a declaration attributed to him in 1906, of establishing peace through value-based scientific education and spiritual upliftment and providing relief to the deprived. He also spoke of establishing such a centre in the Himalayan foothills.

That intention was carried forward by Sant Teja Singh (1877–1965), whom he named as his successor. In 1956 Sant Teja Singh acquired land at Baru in the Sirmaur area of Himachal Pradesh, and in 1959 he arrived there and inaugurated the site. The foundation stone of the Akal Academy building was laid in 1981, the building was completed in 1984, and the Kalgidhar Trust and Kalgidhar Society were registered in the same year. The first Akal Academy opened at Baru Sahib with five pupils; the network has since grown to more than a hundred schools across several Indian states.[3][4][5]

Akal Academy, Baru Sahib

Akal Academy, run by the Kalgidhar Society, operates over 130 co-educational, low-cost English-medium schools in rural areas of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, admitting students regardless of caste, creed, religion or social status.

Akal Academy, Baru Sahib reports the following, on its own site:

Akal Academy is a chain of 130 co-educational English-medium low-cost schools in rural areas of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

The Kalgidhar Society — Baru Sahib

The Kalgidhar Trust and Society, based at Baru Sahib in Himachal Pradesh and founded in 1956, works to transform the lives of rural children through value-based education. Alongside its rural schools and higher education institutions and a School of Spiritual Sciences, it runs a charitable hospital and a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre, and programmes in women's empowerment, environment, community welfare and disaster relief.

The Kalgidhar Society — Baru Sahib reports the following, on its own site: