Nirmalas (Nirmala Sikhs)

What it is: The Nirmalas are a sect of Sikh scholar-ascetics. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says the name comes from the Sanskrit nirmala, "spotless, pure", and that they are mainly engaged in religious study and preaching. They believe in the Ten Gurus and the Guru Granth Sahib, but Khalsa baptism is neither compulsory nor common among them. They wear at least one ochre garment, generally practise celibacy, and lean towards classical Hindu philosophy, especially Vedanta.

How it began: The Encyclopaedia says the sect arose in Guru Gobind Singh's time. In its account, when the scholar Pandit Raghunath refused to teach Sanskrit to Sikhs because of caste, the Guru sent five Sikhs to Varanasi disguised as upper-caste students: Karam Singh, Vir Singh, Ganda Singh, Saiyan Singh and Ram Singh. They returned to Anandpur as scholars. Some, citing a line of Bhai Gurdas, say Guru Nanak founded the sect instead. As Wikipedia reports, the historian W. H. McLeod thought a seventeenth-century origin of doubtful historicity, because the Nirmalas are scarcely mentioned in Sikh literature before the nineteenth century. The origin is tradition, not settled history.

Leaders, in order: At a general meeting at Kankhal during the Haridwar Kumbh of 1855, Mahitab Singh of Rishikesh (1812 to 1871) was elected Sri Mahant. Pandit Ram Singh Kuberia succeeded him in 1871 and served until his death in 1896.

Its part in this history: After the evacuation of Anandpur in 1705, Nirmala preachers spread to Haridwar, Allahabad and Varanasi and founded learning centres. In the later eighteenth century, as Sikhs took power in Punjab, some returned and founded centres that Sikh chiefs endowed. Giani Gian Singh, who wrote Panth Prakash (1880), and Pandit Tara Singh Narotam (1822 to 1891) are named as Nirmala scholars. The Tribune wrote in 2021 that Udasi and Nirmala saints linked to the akharas of Amritsar "used to manage the Sikh shrines till 1920", the year the SGPC was founded. The Encyclopaedia's entries on the Akali movement and the Sikh Gurdwaras Act name Udasi mahants as custodians but do not mention the Nirmalas. Wikipedia, citing McLeod, says the Tat Khalsa condemned the Nirmalas during the Singh Sabha movement while the Sanatan Sikhs supported them.

Key moments

• 1855: Mahitab Singh is elected Sri Mahant, the first step towards a central body.
• 1861 and 1862: Maharaja Narinder Singh of Patiala, Raja Bharpur Singh of Nabha and Raja Sarup Singh of Jind set up the Panchayati Akhara Dharam Dhuja at Patiala, under a constitution they approved and with cash and land grants. It was formally inaugurated on 7 August 1862. Its headquarters stayed at Kankhal.

Where it stands: The Encyclopaedia says the Akhara now has preaching centres at Ujjain, Trimbak (Nasik), Kurukshetra and Patna, besides Kankhal, Haridwar, Patiala and Allahabad. Wikipedia says the Nirmalas are wary of the SGPC, which has claimed Nirmala sites as gurdwaras.