{"id":138,"date":"2019-12-02T05:23:37","date_gmt":"2019-12-02T05:23:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kalenjin.co.ke\/?p=138"},"modified":"2020-11-17T14:18:10","modified_gmt":"2020-11-17T14:18:10","slug":"saint-puran-singh-a-blessing-to-kericho-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/?p=138","title":{"rendered":"Saint Puran Singh, a blessing to Kericho People"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Saint Puran Singh, known affectionately as Baba Ji was born in 1898 in the Punjab village of Gura in India. He later migrated to Kenya in 1917, where he set up Kericho Wagon works in the then small shopping centre of Kericho.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Baba Ji\u2019s message was not just philosophy of words; he was a personification of the proverb, \u2018Practise what you can preach\u2019. On 5th<\/sup> June 1983, Baba Ji went to be with the Lord leaving exemplary legacy of Sikh practice, which is an inspiration in all endeavours of the Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha (GNNSJ).\u00a0 Bhai Sahib Bhai Norang Singh was selected to carry on his great legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bhai Sahib too passed away on 3rd<\/sup> July 1995. \u00a0Bhai Sahib Mohinder of Zambia continued with the legacy to date. The small but blessed town of Kericho is home to one of the largest Gurdwara (place of worship for Sikhs). The towering monument is lovingly dedicated to the memory of one of the greatest Sikh Saints of the 20th<\/sup> century outside India, a Saint who lived in Kenya for 57 years out of his eighty-four-year lifetime and 47 of which spent in Kericho- Puran Singh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nSaint fondly remembered as Baba Puran Singh Ji of Kericho has immortalized the\nhumble town of Kericho and transformed thousands of lives as well as uplifted\nthe local community through many development initiatives. He propagated faith with\nimmense simplicity, across class, creed, denominations, gender and status,\nthrough utmost humility, compassion, selflessness and infinite love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saint\nPuran Ji placed strong emphasis on the principle of non-celibacy, living the\nlife of a householder, with all its responsibilities to the family and the\nsociety, rather than choosing a reclusive life of mediation. Saint Puran put up\n\u2018Kericho Wagon Works\u2019 workshop where he manufactured numerous wagons to help\nBrooke Bond Tea Company transport tea leaves to the factory. Wagons were the\nbest mode of transport then. Similarly, he focused on earning livelihood being\na father to his family and giving to the society notably through municipal\nimprovement for instance renovation of hospitals, schools and churches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nrecognition of Saint Puran civic contributions, the town square was renamed\n\u2018Puran Singh square\u2019 where he constructed an ornamental garden with magnificent\nfountain, which he donated and handed over to the municipal authorities in\n1962.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0Saint Puran is succinctly remembered to have had the welfare of Kenyans at heart. Through his work, he was able to create job opportunities for the locals in Kericho. He worked hand in hand with them developing their capacity in terms of skills and technical competencies. He is remembered to have won a certificate for having the best-decorated car during celebrations to Mark Kenya\u2019s Independence Day in 1963. He was happy that the unjust chains of the colonialists were ending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The monumental Gurdwara in Kericho is a revered architectural landmark in the region. It envelopes Puran Singh Ji\u2019s modest family residence as well as an Institute- Nishkam Saint Puran Singh Institute founded in 2009 to offer business and technical courses. Saint Puran valued high moral and ethical standards. He was very steadfast in his ethics, morals and religion. His standards were beyond reproach. This is why the Institute in his honour has incorporated moral and ethics as a compulsory subject across all programmes. This is aimed at producing not only qualified individuals but also citizens with high moral standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saint\nPuran had special call for service to humanity and the community; he\nparticipated in numerous community events and therefore the Institute was\nstarted as part of his legacy of service to the community. The college acquired\nits name as commemoration for his will to offer professional training backed\nwith strong moral and ethical background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nrecognition of its exceptional spiritual heritage and value, the government of\nKenya gazetted the founder\u2019s humble residence and workshop as a national\nmonument and a Place of Spiritual Significance. Kericho people are grateful to\nhave had such a spiritual and blessed man in the 20th<\/sup> Century. His\nremarkable record has inspired and will still inspire countless generations to\ncome. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saint Puran Singh, known affectionately as Baba Ji was born in 1898 in the Punjab…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":145,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kalenjinmedia.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}