The Bits and Pieces – As I Please

 

The Bits and Pieces – As I Please

1.   Antim Ardas for Smt. Bishan Kaur Chumber

My friend Prem Chumber, Editor-in-Chief of the esteemed Weeklies, The Ambedkar Times and The Desh Doaba of California (USA) and the bereaved Chumber family lost their beloved mother Smt. Bishan Kaur Chumber on November 29. It was a matter of great loss not only for the family but for the entire community. The Antim Ardas for the departed soul was held at Guru Ravidass Gurdawara at Urban

Estate in Jalandhar on December 5 at a solemn ceremony of the Path of Shri Sukhmani Sahib and Sabad Kirtan of Guruwani at a well attended congregation. With the Ardas, some prominent persons, friends and relations of the family, paid wholesome tributes to Smt. Bishan Kaur for her grit and toil to bring up her sons, Chiranji Lal, Prem Kumar and Tarsem Lal, nicely with good education and made them successful in life but also gave them a much needed attribute to belong to the community and do good for the greater benefit of the society at large. Many prominent people namely; Prof. Ronki Ram of Panjab University, Dr. Kulwant Singh of KMG Hospital, Principal

Sardhanjali to Bibi Bishan Kaur

Tarsem Lal,  Harmesh Jassal of Ambedkar Bhawan Trust, Ambassador Ramesh Chander  among others paid glowing tributes to the gracious lady, Bibi Bishan Kaur. Tarsem Chumber while thanking the present friends and relations for joining at the Antim Ardas of his mother broke down and said with a choked voice that he was fortunate to be with the beloved mother in her last days.  Punjabi translation of the booklet ‘An Introduction to BAMCEF’ written by Manyawar Kanshi Ram was released at the occasion as a befitting tribute to the departed soul. As usual in the continuing efforts to generate awareness in the community by the Chumber family, the booklet has been translated into Punjabi and published by Prem Chumber, worthy son of Bibi Bishan Kaur, under the aegis of the Desh Doaba and the Ambedkar Times.

2.   Parinirvan Diwas of Babasaheb Ambedkar – December 6

As usual, every successive year, Prenirvan Diwas (death anniversary) of Babasaheb B.R. Ambedkar on December 6, is observed in all solemnity at Ambedkar Bhawan at Nakodar Road (Ambedkar Marg) in Jalandhar. Over the years, Ambedkr Bhawan has become the nerve centre of activities pertaining to Babasaheb Ambedkar, Buddhism and all matters of concern and interest to the community and the society at large. This year 2021, the function was addressed by eminent speakers and paid rich tributes to the greatest son of India, inter alia, namely; staunch Ambedkarites Lahori Ram Balley and Dr. Ram Lal Jassi. It was informed that MLA Sushil Rinku, keeping with his promises to contribute towards further development of the historic site of Ambedkar Bhawan, managed to get Rs.40 lakh from the Government of Punjab for further development of Ambedkar Bhawan and honoured his commitment. This gesture was much appreciated by Dr. Gian Chand Kaul, General Secretary of Ambedkar Bhawan Trust and the public at large. Charan Dass Sandhu informed about the sudden and untimely death of a prominent social and community activist, Gurnam Singh Muktsari and the congregation kept a two minutes

silence in respect of the departed personality. I may register here with a sense of satisfaction that the stake holders at the Ambedkar Bhawan have done well in the development of the site and making it live and vibrant. But at the same time it is also true that much more needs to be done to make it a ‘Centre of Excellence’ as a befitting tribute to the memory of our icon, Babasaheb Ambedkar.

3.   Charan Choh Ganga – Khuralgarh

I have had written about the Charan Choh Ganga, a historic site pertaining to Guru Ravidass ji, earlier in my blogs. Yesterday, December 4, a bus load of followers, including my immediate family members, of the great Guru from Deol Nagar, visited the holy site. My two little grand-daughters were particularly excited to join the trip when I told them that the chief high priest of the historical place was no other but Sant Maharaj Satwinder Hira ji who had been to
our humble abode in Deol Nagar and earlier at Silver Residency and blessed the little ones. The group, led by younger brother Paramjit Mahey, from Deol Nagar which visited the site was much appreciative of the personal care taken by Sant Satwinder Hira ji, as

Paramjit Mahey thanking the Sants

always. Sant Hira is a dedicated spiritual and social leader associated with the holy site at Khuralgarh. I am confident that the community and the society at large would certainly gain from his untiring efforts to put the site not only on the map of India but also the whole world as a befitting tribute to the memory of the great Guru Ravidass ji.

As per the details in the Wikipedia, Khuralgarh Sahib is one of the most prominent historical places of Ravidasia communities like Ad-Dharmi, Chamar, Ramdasia Sikhs, Jatavs and Mochis. It is situated at village Kharali, Garhshanker, Hoshiarpur district of Punjab. It is also called Tapo-Bhumi as Guru Ravidass ji spent about three years in the 16th century.

Punjab Government decided to develop the site as a spiritual and tourist attraction in the area and rightly so by erecting and establishing Minar-e-Begampura. It is a 151 feet high hallmark of Guru Ravidass Memorial at Shri Khuralgarh Sahib. This memorial is planned to have a spacious congregation hall having the capacity to accommodate 10000 people. Also there is state-of-the art auditorium equipped with all the modern audio-visual aids to showcase the life and works of Guru Ravidass and would accommodate nearly 500 pilgrims during any function or event. Guru Ravidass Memorial is built at 14.4 acre of land and is expected to be completed soon.

It may not be out of place to mention that Baba Banta Ram Ghera of Ad-dharam Movement was instrumental in searching and identifying the historical place in the mid 1990s with an active support of Dera Sachkhand Ballan and other stake holders. It is a matter of great satisfaction that the site of Charan Choh Ganga and related facilities

are fast coming up and being developed by a team of dedicated spiritual leaders like Sant Sarwan Dass ji of Ludhiana and others in consultation and cooperation of Sant Satwinder Hira under the aegis of All India Ad-dharam Movement. Sant Satwinder Hira also played an important role in the run up to solution of the issue of the demolished Guru Ravidass Mandir at Tuglakabad in Delhi.