ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>DHANN&#256 SI&#7748GH BH&#256&#298 (d. 1935)</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="DHANN,SIDGH,BH*"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279DHANN&#256 SI&#7748GH, BH&#256&#298 (d. 1935), an indefatigable Sikh pilgrim, was born about 1893, the son of Sundar Si&#7749gh, a Ch&#257hal Ja&#7789&#7789 of the village <u>Gh</u>anaur&#299 in Sa&#7749gr&#363r district of the Punjab. His original name was L&#257l Si&#7749gh. His father died when he was barely ten years old, and he and his younger brother were brought up in the Rajendra-Dev&#257 Yat&#299m<u>kh</u>&#257n&#257, an orphange in the princely city of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257. As he grew up, he trained as a driver and was employed in the state garage of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Bh&#363pinder Si&#7749gh (1891-1938). Religious instruction had formed part of L&#257l Si&#7749gh's education at the orphanage; the influence now of a senior colleague, J&#299v&#257 Si&#7749gh, a pious Sikh and a driver in the same garage, proved decisive. L&#257l Si&#7749gh proceeded on a pilgrimage to Sr&#299 Abichalnagar Haz&#363r S&#257hib at N&#257nde&#7693, sacred to Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh. There he received the rites of <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 initiation, and was renamed Dhann&#257 Si&#7749gh. During his stay at Sr&#299 Haz&#363r S&#257hib, he was deeply impressed by the piety of Sant Nidh&#257n Si&#7749gh (1882-194'7). Dhann&#257 Si&#7749gh obtained his release from state service and set out on a pilgrimage of Sikh shrines on a bicycle. He visited historical <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i> in Uttar Pradesh, Bih&#257r, Bengal and Assam, returning to Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 after three years. Some of the information about the <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i> he had visited was published in the Sikh newspapers. Dhann&#257 Si&#7749gh, thereafter, purchased a camera, learnt photography, and resumed his travels with a view to visiting Sikh shrines in other parts of India and taking photographs and preparing notes. The project as well as his life was, however, cut short by an accident. During his travels in the North-West Frontier Province in 1935, he stayed one night in a village, Haso<u>kh</u>el, near M&#299r 'Al&#299, in Bann&#363 district. It was a common practice for the people in that disturbed area to keep their weapons loaded at night. Next morning, on 2 March 1923, as the host was unloading his gun, it went off, killing Dhann&#257 Si&#7749gh on the spot.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Dhann&#257 Si&#7749gh's travel notes are said to be intact in the custody of one Sev&#257 Si&#7749gh, son of the late Mistr&#299 Gurba<u>kh</u>sh Singh of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257.</p> </ol><p class="CONT">Major Gurmukh Si&#7749gh (Retd.)<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>