VictoriaCoward4: Created Initial Details First Draft.

2025-06-13T01:30:02Z

Created Initial Details First Draft.

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{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox school
| name = Central Khalsa Orphanage
| native_name =
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| motto = 
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| location = [[Grand Trunk Road|GT Road]], Putlighar, Amritsar
| country = India
| coordinates = {{Coord|31|38|03|N|74|51|00|E|display=inline,title}}
| other_name = Central Khalsa Yatimkhana
| former_name = 
| type = [[Orphanage]]
| religious_affiliation = [[Sikhism]]
| established = 11 April 1904
| founder = 
| closed = 
| school_board =
| district = Punjab
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| grades = 
| gender = Boys
| age_range = 6 - 18
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| affiliation = 
| website = https://centralkhalsaorphanage.org/
| footnotes =
}}
The '''Central Khalsa Orphanage''', also known as the '''Central Khalsa Yatimkhana''',<ref name=ASRtrust>{{cite web|title=Orphanage – ASR Charitable Trust|url=https://www.asrcharitabletrust.com/projects/orphanage/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105165039/https://www.asrcharitabletrust.com/projects/orphanage/|archive-date=5 November 2021|access-date=3 November 2021|website=www.asrcharitabletrust.com}}</ref> is an [[orphanage]] for boys in [[Amritsar]], India, established in 1904 by the [[Chief Khalsa Diwan]]. It is located on a plot of land covering five acres and has a secondary school, sports facilities, a home for the blind, a guest house, a library and a [[gurdwara]]. There is also a re-creation of the room of Indian revolutionary [[Udham Singh]] who, during some of his childhood and teens, resided at the orphanage.

The orphanage has produced several [[Ragi (Sikhism)|Sikh musicians]] associated with the [[Golden Temple]] and other gurdwaras. It houses the first [[Guru Granth Sahib]] published in [[braille]], [[transliterated]] by Bhai Gurmej Singh who was resident at the orphanage in the 1950s after he became blind from [[smallpox]] at the age of ten.

In 2012 the orphanage was noted to have 335 children, of which 27 were blind. In addition to general education up to [[matriculation]], students are also taught [[History of Sikhism|Sikh history]], classical Indian music and [[theology]], and are eventually [[Amrit Sanskar|initiated]].

==Background==
The [[Chief Khalsa Diwan]] was established in 1902 and setting up the orphanage was one of its first tasks.<ref name="Cole1991">{{cite book |last1=Cole |first1=William Owen |title=Moral Issues in Six Religions |date=1991 |publisher=Heinemann |isbn=978-0-435-30299-3 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hnICyg09IEIC&pg=PA208 |language=en|chapter=102. The needy|page=208}}</ref> The Central Khalsa Orphanage for boys opened on 11 April 1904, in a rented single room.<ref name="Cole1991"/><ref name="Singh2012">{{cite news|last1=Singh|first1=Parul Sharma|date=16 March 2012|title=Steeped in history|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/society/steeped-in-history/article3001952.ece|access-date=3 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211103055032/https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/society/steeped-in-history/article3001952.ece|archive-date=3 November 2021}}</ref> It is situated on the [[Grand Trunk Road|GT Road]], Putlighar, Amritsar.<ref name=Anand.Ack>{{Cite book|last=Anand|first=Anita|title=The Patient Assassin, A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge and the Raj|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AoCaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA316|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2019|isbn=978-1-4711-7424-7|chapter=Acknowledgements |page=316|location=London}}</ref><ref name="IndiaInfo">{{cite web|title=The Central Khalsa Orphanage, Amritsar - Orphanage in Amritsar|url=https://www.indiainfo.net/place/the-central-khalsa-orphanage-6180557|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211030185249/https://www.indiainfo.net/place/the-central-khalsa-orphanage-6180557|archive-date=30 October 2021|access-date=3 November 2021|website=www.indiainfo.net}}</ref> In 2012 it was noted to have 335 children, of which 27 were blind.<ref name="Singh2012"/> People considered significant in establishing the orphanage include [[Sundar Singh Majithia]]<ref name="Brunner2020">{{cite book |last1=Brunner |first1=Michael Philipp |title=Education and Modernity in Colonial Punjab: Khalsa College, the Sikh Tradition and the Webs of Knowledge, 1880-1947 |date=2020 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=Switzerland |isbn=978-3-030-53513-1 |page=36 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wwcLEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA36 |language=en |chapter=2. The politics of education: socio-religious transformation, politicised Sikhism and limited nationalism at Khalsa College cc. 1880- 1947}}</ref> and [[Vir Singh (writer)|Bhai Vir Singh]].<ref name="Kalra2015"/> In 1907, the orphanage housed around a dozen children and the superintendent was Sohan Singh, the son of a railway worker.<ref name=Anand3>{{Cite book|last=Anand|first=Anita|title=The Patient Assassin, A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge and the Raj|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AoCaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA30|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2019|isbn=978-1-4711-7424-7|chapter=3. Birth of the upheaval |pages=30–43|location=London}}</ref> Music teacher [[Sain Ditta|Bhai Sain Ditta]] taught there from 1914 to 1932.<ref name="Kalra2015"/> Its motto has been "Be a man. Make your way. Make us proud."<ref name=Anand5/> Since 1904, the orphanage has produced several [[Ragi (Sikhism)|Sikh musicians]] associated with the [[Golden Temple]] and other gurdwaras.<ref name="Kalra2015">{{cite book |last1=Kalra |first1=Virinder S. |title=Sacred and Secular Musics: A Postcolonial Approach |date=2015 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4411-2132-5 |page=159 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jHQeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT159 |language=en}}</ref>

==Udham Singh==
{{Main article|Udham Singh}}
The orphanage records confirm that the Indian revolutionary Udham Singh and his older brother, Mukta, were accepted and [[Amrit Sanskar|initiated]] on 28 October 1907.<ref name=Anand3/><ref name="Fenech2002">{{cite journal |last1=Fenech |first1=Louis E. |title=Contested Nationalisms; Negotiated Terrains: The Way Sikhs Remember Udham Singh 'Shahid' (1899-1940) |journal=Modern Asian Studies |date=2002 |volume=36 |issue=4 |pages=827–870 |doi=10.1017/S0026749X02004031 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3876476 |publisher=University of Northern Iowa |location=Cambridge |jstor=3876476 |s2cid=145405222 |issn=0026-749X|url-access=subscription}}</ref> This date is sometimes reported as 24 October.<ref name="Naim2010">{{cite book |last1=Naimiśarāya |first1=Mohanadāsa |title=Dalit Freedom Fighters |date=2010 |publisher=Gyan Publishing House |isbn=978-81-212-1020-1 |page=63 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0D-oQz3htaYC&pg=PA9 |language=en |chapter=2. Role of Dalit leaders in Gaddar movement}}</ref> It was their home during some of their childhood and teens.<ref name=Anand3/> There, their daily routine included waking at 4 a.m., washing in cold water, followed by two hours of prayers, a basic breakfast and then formal lessons.<ref name=Anand3/> In 1917, Mukta developed a sudden illness and died at the orphanage.<ref name=Anand5>{{Cite book|last=Anand|first=Anita|title=The Patient Assassin, A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge and the Raj|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AoCaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA55|chapter=5. Name, rank and serial failure|date=25 June 2019|pages=55–61|location=London|isbn=9781501195709}}</ref> Udham Singh left the orphanage in 1917 to serve Britain in the [[First World War]] and returned to the orphanage from the War twice; first after less than six months and then after a year in early 1919.<ref name=Anand5/><ref name=Anand.US>{{Cite book|last=Anand|first=Anita|title=The Patient Assassin, A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge and the Raj|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AoCaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA110|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2019|isbn=978-1-4711-7424-7|chapter=The legend of Udham Singh |pages=110–112|location=London}}</ref> His original room has since been demolished; a re-creation of the room has been constructed as a museum in his memory.<ref name=Anand.Ack/><ref name="Mus2014">{{cite news|title=Orphanage sets up museum in memory of Udham Singh|url=http://sikhsangat.org/2014/orphanage-sets-up-museum-in-memory-of-udham-singh/|access-date=5 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211106141642/http://sikhsangat.org/2014/orphanage-sets-up-museum-in-memory-of-udham-singh/|archive-date=6 November 2021}}</ref> The Shaheed Udham Singh Memorial Secondary School, opened in 2015 on the campus, is named for him.<ref name="Singh2012"/><ref name="Trib2015">{{cite news |title=Shaheed Udham Singh School inaugurated on orphanage campus |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/amritsar/shaheed-udham-singh-school-inaugurated-on-orphanage-campus-123681 |access-date=5 November 2021 |work=Tribuneindia News Service |date=23 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105155252/http://sikhsangat.org/2014/orphanage-sets-up-museum-in-memory-of-udham-singh/|archive-date=5 November 2021|language=en}}</ref>

==School for blind boys==
In 1936 [[Vir Singh (writer)|Bhai Vir Singh]] established a school for blind boys, the Surma Singh Ashram, within the orphanage, with the purpose of teaching [[kirtan]].<ref name="Kalra2015"/> The [[Ragi (Sikhism)|ragi]] [[Gurmej Singh|Bhai Gurmej Singh]], who had been sent to the orphanage in 1950 at age ten after becoming blind from [[smallpox]], learnt braille at the orphanage.<ref name="Kalra2015"/><ref name=Jas2021>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Jaswant|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0MofEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA122|title=Gouravmai Sikh Sakhstian Satkaryog Raagi Sahibaan (Punjabi)|date=2021|publisher=Virsa Publications|location=Ludhiana|pages=122|language=pa}}</ref> He produced the first [[Gurbani]], the [[Sukhmani Sahib]], in [[braille]], which he presented in 1969 during [[Gurpurb]].<ref name="Kalra2015"/> He later completed a [[transliteration]] of the entire [[Guru Granth Sahib]] in braille, with the first version going to the orphanage.<ref name="Singh2012"/><ref name=Paul2020>{{cite news|last=Paul|first=G. S.|date=9 September 2020|title=CKD recommends name of Bhai Gurmej Singh for Padma Bhushan|language=en|work=Tribuneindia News Service|publisher=The Tribune|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/amritsar/had-transliterated-entire-sri-guru-granth-sahib-into-brailleckd-recommends-name-of-bhai-gurmej-singh-139046|access-date=3 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200910142643/https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/amritsar/had-transliterated-entire-sri-guru-granth-sahib-into-brailleckd-recommends-name-of-bhai-gurmej-singh-139046|archive-date=10 September 2020}}</ref>

==Later years==
In 2012 the orphanage comprised a {{convert|5|acre|adj=on}} complex with a secondary school, sports facilities, a library, home for the blind, a guest house, a school for teaching Gurbani and Sikh history, and a [[gurdwara]].<ref name="Singh2012"/> It also has a computer lab.<ref name=ASRtrust/> Students at the orphanage are aged between six and eighteen.<ref name="Mus2014"/> They are taught Indian classical music, general secondary education, Sikh history and theology, and are eventually initiated.<ref name=ASRtrust/><ref name="Fenech2002"/> Following matriculation, students may study further at the [[Khalsa College, Amritsar|Khalsa School for Higher Education]].<ref name="Mus2014"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite journal |last1=Indrajit |first1=Mukherjee |title=Memories of Subjective and Objective Violence of Amritsar Massacre in Bali Rai's City of Ghosts1 |journal=Journal of the Department of English |date=2020 |volume=13 |issue=1 |url=http://inet.vidyasagar.ac.in:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/5428 |publisher=Vidyasagar University |location=Midnapore, West Bengal, India |issn=0973-3671}} (Memoirs of two past students)

==External links==
*[https://www.asrcharitabletrust.com/projects/orphanage/ Charitable trust]

[[Category:Orphanages in India]]
[[Category:1904 establishments in India]]
[[Category:Schools in Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Children's charities based in India]]
[[Category:Educational organisations based in India]]
[[Category:Schools for the blind in India]]
[[Category:Jallianwala Bagh massacre]]

Central Khalsa Orphanage - Revision history

VictoriaCoward4: Created Initial Details First Draft.