ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>ARDAMAN SI&#7748GH BH&#256YEE (1899-1976)</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="ARDAMAN,SIDGH,BHYEE,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">&#65279ARDAMAN SI&#7748GH, BH&#256YEE (1899-1976), of pious lineage was born on 20 September 1899 (father : Bh&#257yee Arjan Si&#7749gh; mother : Devinder Kaur) at B&#257ga&#7771&#299&#257&#7749, in present-day Sa&#7749gr&#363r district of the Punjab. The family traces its descent from Bh&#257&#299 R&#363p Chand, a devout Sikh of the time of Gur&#363 Hargobind (1595-1644) and has for the past several generations been a leading religious family among the Sikhs. For his schooling, Ardaman Si&#7749gh was not sent to a Chiefs College as was then customary for aristocratic families, but to the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 School at Ludhi&#257&#7751&#257. He took his B. A. degree from <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 College, Amritsar, in 1918. He left off his law studies midway to lend his father a helping hand in his religious work. Ardaman Si&#7749gh studied music under famous musicologists of the day such as Maha&#7749t Gajj&#257 Si&#7749gh, Bh&#257&#299 Jav&#257l&#257 Si&#7749gh and Bh&#257&#299 Ghas&#299&#7789&#257, and the Sikh texts with his father, Bh&#257yee Arjan Si&#7749gh himself. 1n 1923 he was appointed an honorary magistrate in place of his father. He took out preaching trips to different parts of India to preach Sikh tenets and administer to seekers the vows of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257. He delivered lectures on different aspects of Sikhism at public meetings as well as at academic institutions. As it happened, his last lecture of a series, hosted by the Pañj&#257b University, Cha&#7751&#7693&#299ga&#7771h, was delivered on 23 December 1976, just two days before he died.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Besides lecturing and ministering religious rites and ceremonies on important occasions, Bh&#257yee Ardaman Si&#7749gh participated in Sikh activity in a variety of ways. He helped start the Sikh Academy of Religion and Culture, Patiala, of which he was invited to be president. He was president of Gurmat Academy as well as of the Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257, Shiml&#257. He was closely associated with the Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 centenary celebrations. He was assigned (by the Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 Centenary Committee and the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee) to updating the <i>rahit mary&#257d&#257</i> or the Sikh code of conduct. He could not complete the draft during his lifetime. He was a leading participant in the Dasam Granth Go&#7779&#7789&#299 organized by M&#257n Si&#7749gh, editor of the Delhi weekly, <i>M&#257nsarovar</i>. The purpose of the Go&#7779&#7789&#299 was to resolve the controversy about the authorship of certain compositions included in the <i>Dasam Granth</i>, or the Book of the Tenth Master (Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh). Ardaman Si&#7749gh was strongly of the view that all the compositions in the <i>Dasam Granth</i> were not from the pen of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Bh&#257yee Ardaman Si&#7749gh died on 25 December 1976 at Cha&#7751&#7693&#299ga&#7771h due to a cardiac obstruction, and was cremated the next day at his native village B&#257ga&#7771&#299&#257&#7749.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Itih&#257s Riy&#257sat B&#257ga&#7771&#299&#257&#7749</i>. Patiala, 1917<BR> <li class="C1"> Caveeshar, Sardul Singh, <i>House of Bagrian</i>. Lahore, 1939<BR> <li class="C1"> Griffin, Lepel and C. F. Massy, <i>Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab</i>. Lahore, 1990<BR> <li class="C1"><i>Golden Jubilee Book</i>. Amritsar, 1958<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Dharam Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>