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{{Short description|Sikh sect}}
{{Infobox religious group|group=Nirmala<br>{{Small|ਨਿਰਮਲੇ}}|founder=Bir Singh, Ganda Singh, Karam Singh, Ram Singh, and Saina Singh|religions=[[Sikhism]] • [[Vedanta]]|image=Painting of a Nirmala Sikh by Kapur Singh, Amritsar, ca.1860–65.jpg|image_caption=Painting of a Nirmala Sikh by Kapur Singh, Amritsar, ca.1860–65|regions=[[Punjab]] • [[Indo-Gangetic Plain|Gangetic Plains]]|scriptures=[[Guru Granth Sahib]] • [[Vedanta|Vedantic texts]]|languages=[[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] • [[Sanskrit]]}}
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'''Nirmala''' ([[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]: ਨਿਰਮਲੇ, ''lit.'' "those without blemish") also known as ''Nirmala Taksal'' or ''Girhvarhi Samparda'', is a [[Sikh sect]] of [[Asceticism|ascetics]].<ref name="britnirmala">[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nirmala Nirmala: Sikhism], Encyclopaedia Britannica</ref> According to the traditional beliefs, the Sanatan Nirmala Sikh tradition was founded by [[Guru Gobind Singh]] in late 17th century when he sent five Sikhs to Varanasi to learn [[Sanskrit]] and [[Vedanta]] texts.

== Origin ==

The origin of the Nirmalas is uncertain. According to Khushwant Singh and other historians, the sect is first mentioned in the Sikh literature during the Guru Gobind Singh era, in the last decade of the 17th century.<ref name="Sulakhan_2000" /> According to ''Nirmal Panth Pardipka'', the Nirmala tradition has roots in the early history of Sikhism.<ref name="Sulakhan_2005" /> In the 19th century, some Nirmala scholars traced their origin to the period of the first Sikh Guru, [[Nanak]], but some others such as Khushwant Singh state that the Nirmala tradition was founded by the last Sikh Guru, [[Gobind Singh]].<ref name="Sulakhan_2000">{{cite book |author=Sulakhan Singh |chapter=Heterodoxy in Sikhism: An Exposition of Some Sectarian Developments |editor=Parm Bakhshish Singh |title=Punjab History Conference, Thirty-second Session, March 17-19, 2000: Proceedings |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PhRDAAAAYAAJ |year=2001 |publisher=Punjabi University |isbn=978-81-7380-722-0 |pages=77–78}}</ref> The belief that the sect originated in the 17th century, according to [[W. H. McLeod]], is of doubtful historicity because they are "scarcely mentioned" in Sikh literature before the 19th century.<ref name="McLeod2005p148">{{cite book|author=W. H. McLeod|title=Historical Dictionary of Sikhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ma3G-hjh6SwC |year=2005|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-5088-0|pages=148–149}}</ref>

According to the Nirmalas, in 1686, Guru Gobind Singh sent five Sikhs (Bir Singh, Ganda Singh, Karam Singh, Ram Singh and Saina Singh) to [[Varanasi]] to learn Sanskrit and classical Hindu literature. This began the Nirmala tradition.<ref name="Sulakhan_2000" /><ref>{{cite book |author=Madanjit Kaur |title=Guru Gobind Singh: Historical and Ideological Perspective |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZG4MycGdpjAC&pg=PA198 |year=2007 |publisher=Unistar |isbn=978-81-89899-55-4 |page=198 }}</ref> After they returned to Anandpur, they were honoured by the title Nirmala (Sanskrit for "pure" or "unsullied").<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XOY3V9pxcMMC&pg=PA67 |title=Short Sketch of the Life and Works of Guru Gobind Singh |author=Bhagat Lakshman Singh |publisher=Asian Educational Services |year=1995 |isbn=9788120605763 |page=67 }}</ref> The Nirmalas took the [[Amrit]] initiation into the Khalsa panth.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kaur|first1=Madanjit|title=Guru Gobind Singh: Historical and Ideological Perspective|publisher=Unistar Books|location=Chandigarh|page=198}}</ref>

According to another account found in the late 19th-century ''Nirmal Panth Pardipika'' by the Nirmala scholar and Tat Khalsa supporter Giani Gian Singh, Guru Gobind Singh met a Sanskrit scholar named Pandit Raghunath in late 17th-century. He asked him to teach Sanskrit to Sikhs. However, Raghunath politely refused to do so, because he did not want to teach Sanskrit to Shudras.<ref name="eosnirmala" /> So Guru Gobind Singh sent some Sikhs dressed in upper-caste attire to Varanasi, where they became accomplished scholars of Indian theology and philosophy.<ref name="eosnirmala">[https://archive.org/details/TheEncyclopediaOfSikhism-VolumeIiiM-r/page/n252 Nirmala], The Encyclopedia of Sikhism Volume III, Punjabi University, Patiala, pages 236–237</ref> The Pandit Raghunath-related story of Giani Gian Singh is likely ahistorical fiction.<ref name="Sulakhan_2005" />

The historicity of this account has been questioned because there are very few mentions of Nirmalas before the 19th century.<ref name="Sulakhan_2005">{{cite book |author=Sulakhan Singh |chapter=Nirmal Panth Pardipika |editor=Sukhadial Singh |title=Punjab History Conference, Thirty-seventh Session, March 18-20, 2005: Proceedings |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PzduAAAAMAAJ |year=2005 |publisher=Punjabi University |isbn=978-81-7380-990-3 |pages=220–221 |quote=As the Nirmalas do not seem to have been adequately mentioned in the Sikh literature before the 19th century, it is difficult to uphold the contention of Giani Gian Singh as historically true, rather it seems highly improbable.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=W. H. McLeod |title=The A to Z of Sikhism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vgixwfeCyDAC&pg=PA148 |year=2009 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-6344-6 |pages=148–149}}</ref> [[Pashaura Singh (Sikh scholar)|Pashaura Singh]] and Louis E. Fenech hypothesize that the Nirmalas originated much later or may have descended from the [[Udasi]]s, who are similar to them in ascetic lifestyle, celibacy and [[Vedanta|Vedantic]] interpretation of Sikh philosophy.<ref name="PSLEF_2014">{{cite book |author1=Pashaura Singh |author2=Louis E. Fenech |title=The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CzYeAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA377 |year=2014 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-100412-4 |pages=377–378 }}</ref>

== History ==
Patronage from Sikh nobles, especially the rulers of the [[Phulkian sardars|Phulkian states]], helped the Nirmalas become a prominent religious order.<ref name="PSLEF_2014" /> Sardar Dhyan Singh of Shahbad willed his estate to Karam Singh Nirmala. In 1766, Sadda Singh of Bahirwala offered seven villages to Bhagat Singh Nirmala, although the latter declined the offer. Sardar Jai Singh's daughter-in-law granted two villages to the Nirmal [[dera (organization)|dera]] at Kankhal.<ref name="SSG_2007">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vZFBp89UInUC&pg=PA971 |title=History of Sikh Gurus Retold: 1606-1708 C.E |author=Surjit Singh Gandhi |publisher=Atlantic |year=2007 |isbn=9788126908585 |pages=971–974 }}</ref>

Sardar Ganda Singh of [[Bhangi Misl]] offered 13 villages to Jai Singh Nirmala. In 1796, Maharaja [[Ranjit Singh]] also granted a [[sanad (deed)|sanad]] for land to Nihal Singh Nirmala. On both occasions, the Nirmalas passed on the properties to the Udasi akhara of Santokh Das.<ref name="SSG_2007" />

== Philosophy and practices ==
[[File:Simhasth2016 Panchayati akhada nirmal Shahi Snan.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Nirmal Akhara procession at [[Ujjain Simhastha]] 2016 (Kumbh Mela)]]Like the Udasis, the Nirmalas interpret the teachings of the Sikh Gurus in context of [[Vedanta]].<ref name="PSLEF_2014"/> They view the first Sikh Guru, [[Nanak]], as an [[Advaita Vedanta|Advaita Vedantist]], a follower of [[Adi Shankara|Shankara]], and a defender of the ''[[Sanatana dharma]]''.<ref>{{cite book |author=Lynn Teskey Denton |title=Female Ascetics in Hinduism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ivUAJ1YneQC&pg=PA179 |year=2004 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-6179-2 |pages=179–}}</ref>

However, compared to the Udasis, the Nirmalas have shared a closer relationship the mainstream [[Khalsa]] Sikhs. Many prominent Nirmala [[Sant (religion)|sant]]s preached mainstream Sikhism in Punjab, and Nirmala akharas have played an important role in training Sikhs. But after the [[Akali movement]], the Khalsa attempts to create a Sikh identity completely distinct from Hindus made the Khalsa-Nirmala relationship fragile.<ref name="PSLEF_2014"/>

The Nirmala Sikhs wear ochre-colored/[[Bhagwa]] robes (or at least one item) and keep ''kesh'' (unshorn hair).<ref name="ColeSambhi2005p62">{{cite book |author1=W. Owen Cole |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vcSRAgAAQBAJ |title=A Popular Dictionary of Sikhism: Sikh Religion and Philosophy |author2=Piara Singh Sambhi |publisher=Routledge |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-135-79760-7 |page=62}}</ref> They observe the same birth and death rituals as the Hindu ascetics and have an ''akhara'' (martial organization) in Haridwar,<ref name="ColeSambhi2005p62" /> and a number of ''[[dera (organization)|deras]]'' in Punjab (India).<ref name="SinghFenech2014p87">{{cite book |author1=Pashaura Singh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7YwNAwAAQBAJ |title=The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies |author2=Louis E. Fenech |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-100411-7 |pages=87–88}}</ref> They have been one of the procession participants in [[Kumbh Mela]]s.<ref name="Misra2019p79">{{cite book |author=Nityananda Misra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kcSGDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT79 |title=Kumbha: The Traditionally Modern Mela |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |year=2019 |isbn=978-93-88414-12-8 |pages=79–80}}</ref><ref name="eosnirmala" /> They were early missionaries who traveled and spread Sikhism among the masses,<ref name="McLeod2005p148" /><ref name="eosnirmala" /> thus making an important contribution to the growth of Sikhism.<ref name="PSLEF_2014" /> They often served as one of the ''mahants'' in Sikh temples (gurdwaras) during the 18th century.<ref name="ColeSambhi2005p62" /> Nirmalas interpret the [[Sikhism|Sikh]] literature in [[Vedanta|Vedantic]] terms.<ref name="Dhavan2011221">{{cite book |author=Purnima Dhavan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-7HJ5idB8_QC&pg=PA221 |title=When Sparrows Became Hawks: The Making of the Sikh Warrior Tradition, 1699-1799 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-19-975655-1 |pages=221 note 3}}</ref> During the [[Singh Sabha Movement]] of late 19th century and early 20th century, they were condemned by the [[Tat Khalsa]] faction of Sikhs, and cordially supported by the Sanatan Sikhs faction.<ref name="McLeod2005p148" />

== Locations ==

The Nirmala Panchaati akhara at [[Kankhal]], established with grants from the rulers of Phulkian states, has the highest status among all Nirmala chapters.<ref name="PSLEF_2014"/> Other major Nirmala centres are located at [[Haridwar]], [[Allahabad]], [[Ujjain]], [[Trimbak]], [[Kurukshetra]] and [[Patna]].

== Notable Nirmalas ==
[[File:PunditTaraSingh.png|thumb|130px|right|[[Pundit Tara Singh]] (1822–1891), a noted Nirmala Sikh published a number of works on Sikh theology.]]
* [[Pundit Tara Singh]] (1822–1891), Punjabi and Sanskrit scholar
* [[Kavi Santokh Singh]], (1787 - 1843), writer of historical [[Suraj Parkash]]
* [[Giani Gian Singh|Giani Gyan Singh]], (1822-1921), scholar
* Sant Isher Singh Rara Sahib
* [[Balbir Singh Seechewal]], prominent environmentalist

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.nirmalashram.com/ Nirmal Ashram, Haridwar]

{{Sikhism}}

[[Category:Sikh groups and sects]]

Nirmala (sect) - Revision history

Marissa54P: Article initiated.