Radha Soami Satsang Beas

Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) is a Sant Mat spiritual movement whose headquarters is Dera Baba Jaimal Singh at Beas, about 45 km from Amritsar. The Tribune says it has followers across India, especially in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Wikipedia's account, which leans on the movement's own publications, says it has centres in more than 90 countries and that gatherings at Beas can draw 200,000 to 500,000 people.

How it began: Jaimal Singh (1839 to 1903), a former Army man and disciple of Shiv Dayal Singh, started the satsang on the Beas river in 1891, according to Wikipedia. Sawan Singh developed the dera colony from 1898.

The heads in order

• Jaimal Singh, until 1903.
• Sawan Singh, 1903 to 1948.
• Jagat Singh, 1948 to 1951.
• Charan Singh, 1951 to 1990. In 1957 he placed all dera assets in the Radha Soami Satsang Beas Society, a charitable trust. He died of heart failure at Beas on 1 June 1990, aged 73.
• Gurinder Singh Dhillon, since 1990. Charan Singh's nephew, he was 36 when he took over.

The 2024 succession: on 2 September 2024 the dera announced that Dhillon had named Jasdeep Singh Gill, a distant relative and former Cipla executive, as his successor with immediate effect. Followers, resentful, gathered at the Amritsar premises. That evening the dera said Dhillon would stay on as spiritual head, with Gill as patron handling administration, and that Gill would receive the authority to initiate only when Dhillon steps down. The Tribune reported that Dhillon was said to be unwell.

Splits and politics: Wikipedia says several of Sawan Singh's disciples set up separate centres after 1948, among them Dera Sacha Sauda. The movement has traditionally stayed out of politics, but politicians visit. The Tribune notes that Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to Beas in November 2022, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met Dhillon there in March 2023. The Tribune also reports that sources put the dera's property at over Rs 5,000 crore.

Service: the movement runs free hospitals and langar. The 260-bed Maharaj Sawan Singh Charitable Hospital at Beas is one, according to Wikipedia, which draws this from the organisation's own publication.