ਬਾਬਾ ਈਸ਼ਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀਬਾਬਾ ਈਸ਼ਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ

Baba Ishar Singh Ji (1913 to 1963) was the Sikh saint who headed Nanaksar Kaleran, near Jagraon in Ludhiana district, after his master ਬਾਬਾ ਨੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ. Born Inder Singh in the village of Jhoraran, he spent his youth in selfless service at his master's feet, and after returning to Kaleran in 1950 he built the gurdwara and sarovar that thousands visit today.

Who was Baba Ishar Singh Ji?

Baba Ishar Singh Ji was born Inder Singh on 26 March 1913, the 13th of Chet, in the village of Jhoraran in Ludhiana district. His father was Sardar Bagga Singh and his mother was Mata Partap Kaur, and he was one of seven children, with four brothers and two sisters. The sources differ on the year: SikhiWiki gives 1913, while the Nanaksar gurdwara's own history gives the same day and month but the year 1916. This entry uses 1913 and records the difference here.

His name was changed by his master. ਬਾਬਾ ਨੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ told him that Inder, the name of a king of the gods, spoke of worldly grandeur and wealth, and gave him the name Ishar instead. It is by that name that he has been remembered ever since.

How did a boy from Jhoraran become Baba Nand Singh Ji's attendant?

He was ten or eleven years old when ਬਾਬਾ ਨੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ visited Jhoraran, and the boy made it his habit to attend the saint's congregation with his whole heart. He carried water in the cook house and fanned the sangat, and afterwards he began to visit Nanaksar Kaleran every day, often staying there for days at a time in voluntary service. The accounts of the Nanaksar movement say that in 1927 he joined Baba Nand Singh Ji for good.

One story told at Nanaksar says that when he was thirteen, he was watching over a melon crop when he heard a voice saying, I have come here for your sake and you are going to sleep. He went to pay respects to ਬਾਬਾ ਨੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ, who told him to learn Gurmukhi, and when his master asked his mother for one of her five sons, she agreed, and from that day the boy belonged to Nanaksar.

After three years at Kaleran he left his home for good and took Khande di Pahul, the ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤ, from Baba Nand Singh Ji himself. His master sent him to Baba Wadhawa Singh Ji of Lehra Khana to study the scriptures, and after years of study he returned to Kaleran and took up service again. He became the Hazuria sewadar, the chief personal attendant, and the stories say he was always ready at any hour, often barefoot, sitting outside his master's gate. He never married, and he lived as a celibate all his life.

What happened after Baba Nand Singh Ji left this world?

ਬਾਬਾ ਨੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ left this world in August 1943. On the tenth day after his departure, the sangat offered Baba Ishar Singh Ji his turban, the sign that the mantle of successor had fallen on him. But he was in such grief that he could not take up the work at once. He went first to Dehradun and then back to Jhoraran, and for seven years he lived in sorrow, meditating in the underground room at Jhoraran and seldom meeting anyone.

In those years Nanaksar Kaleran stood almost deserted, and devotees complained that selfish people had taken hold of the place and the sacred maryada was being ignored. The sangat of the surrounding villages came together and asked Baba Ishar Singh Ji to take charge. He answered that he would come when the Almighty gave permission, and he went to Hazur Sahib, where he stayed for about a month. Then, in 1950, he came back to Nanaksar Kaleran.

How did Nanaksar Kaleran take shape?

Soon after his return, Baba Ishar Singh Ji told the sewadars to get ready to dig a sarovar, a pool of holy water, and said the water would be released on the coming Pooranmashi, the full moon day. The digging began in 1950 and the sarovar was finished in 28 days. The accounts differ on the month the work began, one says March and another the month of Haar, so this entry records the year and the 28 days, on which all the accounts agree.

Heavy rain then razed the rough kacha construction at Nanaksar to the ground, and the underground rooms where ਬਾਬਾ ਨੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ used to meditate were flooded. When the water went down, Baba Ishar Singh Ji had the debris cleared and laid the foundation of the gurdwara on the Sangrand of Chet in Sammat 2008, in March 1951. Carpenters, masons and blacksmiths came from all around to offer free service, and a five storey thath was raised with its dome covered in gold plates, beside the main hall and the Baradari.

At the top stands the golden kalas, 39 feet round and 13 feet high, built by specially trained craftsmen. The thirteen storey thath at Jhoraran, where Baba Ishar Singh Ji had meditated for seven years, was built by Baba Narain Singh Ji. The accounts say that Baba Ishar Singh Ji never asked anyone for a penny for all this work, and never even permitted his followers to collect money for it. He is said to have never touched a currency note in his life.

He also kept the maryada of Nanaksar exactly as ਬਾਬਾ ਨੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ had laid it down: kirtan and katha, the recitation of Gurbani, and punctuality above all. Sukhmani Sahib is recited at Nanaksar without break. He started the Sampat Akhand Paths, and he began the daily round of kirtan at other gurdwaras too, at Jhoraran, Bhadaur, Barnala, Barundi, Samadh Bhai, Dehradun and Seerah. There is no kitchen on the premises, yet langar is served round the clock, because devotees keep bringing food.

What did Baba Ishar Singh Ji teach?

Baba Ishar Singh Ji taught that Guru Granth Sahib Ji is the true and living Guru of the Sikhs, and that Gurbani is the only source of true liberation. He told the sangat to worship the Guru with full faith, to keep Naam Simran at the centre of daily life, and to sing kirtan with love. His message was ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ's message of universal brotherhood, and he travelled to important Sikh places across India holding programmes wherever he went.

Above all, he pressed the importance of ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤ. Wherever he went, the giving of Amrit was a must, and the dera's history says that hundreds of thousands of people took Amrit through him. He held great Pooranmashi deewans at Nanaksar, and sometimes five congregations in a single day in different villages, with ragis and katha vachaks taking part day and night. He said that Amrit was the only way to overcome the fear of death. His own life was the teaching: he married no one, owned nothing, and asked his followers only to keep the Guru at the centre and live honest lives.

Is he the same saint as Baba Isher Singh Ji of Rara Sahib?

No, and the two should not be confused, although their names sound alike and the spellings Isher and Ishar are often used for both. ਬਾਬਾ ਈਸ਼ਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ of Rara Sahib lived from 1905 to 1975 and was the disciple of Sant Attar Singh Ji of Reru Sahib. He headed the Bhai Daya Singh Samparda and was based at Gurdwara Karamsar, Rara Sahib. Baba Ishar Singh Ji of Nanaksar Kaleran lived from 1913 to 1963, was the disciple and successor of Baba Nand Singh Ji, and was based at Kaleran, near Jagraon. This entry is about the Kaleran saint only.

How is Baba Ishar Singh Ji remembered today?

In September 1963 Baba Ishar Singh Ji visited Solan and Shimla, and on the way back he spent a night at Pinjore Gardens near Chandigarh. He held his last great Pooranmashi deewan on 3 October 1963. The dera's history says that on 6 October 1963, after the evening Rehras prayer, he left this world. SikhiWiki gives the date as 7 October. This entry records October 1963 as certain, and both dates as they are kept.

The Kaleran dera's own history says that he passed the work of the mission to Baba Gurdev Singh Ji, under whom seventeen new Nanaksar gurdwaras were established in India and abroad. Other accounts note that the wider Nanaksar movement later split under several leaders. What is not in doubt is the place itself. Nanaksar Kaleran stands about five miles from Jagraon on the road from Ludhiana towards Moga and Ferozepur, Sukhmani Sahib is still recited there without break, and langar is still served round the clock.