DALĪP SINGH, SANT (1883-1948), son of Īshar Siṅgh and Har Kaur, was born in 1883 at the village of Lahrī, in Hoshiārpur district. He was hardly five years old, when his father died. He was brought up by his maternal grandfather, Nihāl Siṅgh, at his village Ḍumelī. He received his early education from a local Sikh priest, who also trained him in the singing of gurbāṇī.

         Dalīp Siṅgh was a child with peculiar traits. He was fond of solitude. One day he went out and did not return home. He built for himself a cell (the site, now called Bābā Rāṇā) for meditation. He was then a youth of about twenty. He remained wrapped up in deep meditation for forty-eight days in his cell. As he refused to return home, the residents of the village built for him a cottage. He ground the grain into flour and did his own cooking, refusing to accept food even from his own mother. In his cottage, he started a small laṅgar (free kitchen) for the poor and needy. He was convinced that selfless service to fellow men was the essence of true religion and the highest worship of the Almighty. Whenever he came across a disabled, blind, dumb, lame, sick or orphaned child, he brought him to his cottage and looked after him. He brought up many such children and trained them for earning their livelihood. Sant Sarvaṇ Siṅgh Ghandhārī, born blind, and Giānī Harbaṅs Siṅgh born a cripple, who are now running the ḍerā of Sant Bābā Dalīp Siṅgh, grew up under his care. The former was enabled to earn his Master's degree in Music (Classical and Instrumental) and the latter to qualify for practice in the indigenous system of medicine.

         Bābā Dalīp Siṅgh combined with his saintly disposition a revolutionary urge. He gave shelter to the Babar Akālīs engaged in anti - government activities and provided them with food and money. He himself took part in the Akālī movement and led a jathā during the Jaito morchā. During the Hindu-Muslim riots in 1947, he saved the lives of many Muslims at great personal risk.

         Sant Dalīp Siṅgh died in 1948. Apart from the ḍerā he founded, a Khālsā College at Ḍumelī commemorates his name.

Gurdiāl Siṅgh Phul