ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>PR&#298TAM D&#256S MAHANT (1752-1831)</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="PR*TAM,DS,MAHANT,Person,Person"> <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">&#65279PR&#298TAM D&#256S, MAHANT (1752-1831), an Ud&#257s&#299 saint, was born in 1752, according to some sources in 1722, in a S&#257rsvat Br&#257hma&#7751 family of Hoshi&#257rpur district of the Punjab. His original name was Karam Chand. His early education was limited to preliminary Urdu. He left his home at the age of 11, and started travelling from place to place in the company of itinerent s&#257dh&#363s until he was formally initiated as a disciple of an Ud&#257s&#299 saint, Sa&#7749gat D&#257s, who renamed him Pr&#299tam D&#257s. Soon after his initiation, Pr&#299tam D&#257s set out on a pilgrimage of holy places in North India and Nepal. Later, he became a disciple of Mah&#257tm&#257 Bankha&#7751&#7693&#299 (1763-1863), the well-known scholar and preacher of the M&#299h&#257&#7749sh&#257h&#299 sub-sect of Ud&#257s&#299 Sikhs. Bankha&#7751&#7693&#299 gave him the title of <i>nirb&#257n</i>, i.e, one who had overcome his desires and passions, and set him on his career as a wandering monk. During his travels in the South, Pritam D&#257s met N&#257nak Chand, an uncle of D&#299w&#257n Chand&#363 L&#257l of Hyder&#257b&#257d, and secured from him a donation of 7,00,000 Rupees to establish a central seat for the Ud&#257sis. This materiallized in the form of the Pañch&#257y&#257t&#299 Akh&#257&#7771&#257 set up at All&#257h&#257b&#257d in 1779. In 1781, Pritam D&#257s founded a monastery called Nirb&#257n Akh&#257&#7771&#257 at Amritsar, popularly known as Sa&#7749galv&#257l&#257 Akh&#257&#7771&#257 because of a heavy iron chain (<i>sa&#7749gal</i> in Punjabi) which hung at its gate. Between 1781 and 1784, Mahant Pr&#299tam D&#257s, in collaboration with Mahant Santokh D&#257s of the monastery now known as Brahm B&#363&#7789&#257 and with the help of local Sikh Sard&#257rs, dug a water channel, <i>ha&#7749sl&#299</i>, off the Sh&#257h&#299 Nahar (the predecessor of the present Upper B&#257r&#299 Do&#257b canal) ensuring perennial supply of water to the <i>sarovars</i> or holy tanks in Amritsar. During the Kumbh fair at Haridv&#257r in 1819, the Ud&#257s&#299s were attacked by a group of Bair&#257g&#299s who resented the former marching out in a ceremonial procession with Sikh Scripture, the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib, amidst it. Mahant Pritam D&#257s enlisted the help of some Sikh chiefs who were attending the fair and got the Bair&#257g&#299s suitably punished.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Mahant Pr&#299tam D&#257s died at Amritsar in 1831.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Randh&#299r Si&#7749gh, <i>Ud&#257s&#299 Sikh&#257&#7749 d&#299 Vithi&#257 </i>. Amritsar, 2016 Bk<BR> <li class="C1"><i><u>Kh</u> &#257ls&#257 Sam&#257ch&#257r</i>. 25 October 1962<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Sarmukh Si&#7749gh Amole<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>