LAṄGAR SIṄGH, BĀBĀ, an eighteenth-century Nirmalā saint, was the son of Bhāī Parshādā Siṅgh and Māī Valṭohī, a devout Sikh couple contemporary with Gurū Gobind Siṅgh (1666-1708) and living at Koṭ Kapūrā (30º-35'N, 74º-49'E) now in Farīdkoṭ district of the Punjab. The names Parshādā (lit. bread or meal), Valṭohī (lit. kettle) and Laṅgar (lit. food, meal, kitchen), it is said, were given them by the people for their warm hospitality. Laṅgar Siṅgh after his education at Anandpur under Bhāī Kesar Siṅgh, who had been a student of Bhāī Karam Siṅgh, one of the five Sikhs sent by Gurū Gobind Siṅgh to Vārāṇasī to study Sanskrit, settled down at Harīke Kalāṅ, a village 18 km east of Muktsar, where he established a ḍerā or seminary to teach Sikh texts and tenets. His disciple, Mahant Nikkā Siṅgh, founded five other ḍerās, one each at Barnālā, Paṭiālā, Mālerkoṭlā, Rāikoṭ and Jagrāoṅ. According to Giānī Giān Siṅgh, Twārīkh Gurū Khālsā, it was Bābā Laṅgar Siṅgh who identified, for raising commemorative shrines, the various spots connected with the battle of Khidrāṇā (Muktsar). The famous Māghī fair of Muktsar also owed its origin to his initiative. Bābā Laṅgar Siṅgh died after a brief illness at Amritsar where he had gone on pilgrimage. His samādh or memorial shrine is at Harike Kalāṅ where his place of residence still houses a Nirmalā school.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gurcharan Siṅgh Giānī