The Living Saint: Bhagat Puran Singh

Whenever an NRI Punjabi comes home on a visit there are two pilgrimages that are mandatory for him to make, one to the Golden Temple in Amritsar and the other to the Pingalwara, also at Amritsar. And after each visit he goes back with an increased reverence for Bhagat Puran Singh, the Founder of the Pingalwara and respect for the work that he did. Bhagatji’s work was focused first on all whom the world had rejected, society’s discards: the aged, the socially ostracized, the terminally ill and the mentally challenged. He embraced them all with his love, compassion and set up a permanent home for them. Then he spread his wings to draw attention to issues of burning social concerns: environment, pollution, population control, and education. Unfortunately in the rest of India the Saint and his work are little known. Even the Government of India has been miserly with its praise and recognition. This work “The Living Saint” is an attempt to make the average Indian aware of this great man and his tremendous work.