Bringing a project to life and making it successful depends largely on the people who are committed to it. If one compares today’s Kirpal Sagar with the pictures from its beginning, the transformation speaks without words for two exceptional personalities – Dr. Harbhajan Singh and his wife, Biji Surinder Kaur. They were the close disciples of Sant Kirpal Singh, to whom, from the beginning, He entrusted the most important tasks. The last and greatest task He left them was to build Kirpal Sagar.
Dr. Harbhajan Singh (1932-1995) and his wife came from that part of former India that belongs to Pakistan today, and they had to move away from there when India was divided. Already at a young age, they experienced the expulsion and suffering of the people.
Thereafter, they lived in Northern India near Amritsar. After long years of searching, Dr. Harbhajan Singh met Sant Kirpal Singh. From the very beginning, he was committed to His work.
At that time, Dr. Harbhajan Singh practiced as a doctor in the village of Nag Kalan, where he lived with his family. For a long time he had his practice in his own house, until Sant Kirpal Singh laid the foundation stone for his hospital nearby. This hospital, which has since been expanded, is still in operation today.
A high level of responsibility demands full commitment. In addition to his work as a doctor, Dr. Harbhajan Singh gave spiritual lectures both in India and abroad, took care of the people, wrote books, and directed the publication of a biography of Sant Kirpal Singh. Above all, however, he devoted his time to the construction of Kirpal Sagar, which began in 1982.
During the following years, the Punjab was shaken by terrorism, and yet, the project Kirpal Sagar continued even with few means and much hard work. Dr. Harbhajan Singh often had to travel in blazing heat and on desolate roads to procure necessary material from far away, since many companies had left the crisis-ridden region.
Under his leadership, a World Conference on Unity of Man took place in Kirpal Sagar in February 1994. In the presence of representatives of different religions, the foundation stone for the central building in the Sarovar was laid.
In 1995 he had advanced the work so much so that the main facilities were completed by the end of the summer, still before he left his body on September 25, 1995.
“Kirpal Sagar is my heart,” he had always said and devoted his whole life to it.
Biji Surinder Kaur (1940-2016) continued the project after 1995 with all determination. She declared that she would achieve twice as much as what her husband wanted to attain in order to fulfill Sant Kirpal Singh’s vision. Once she had said something, she kept her word forever.
Under her guidance, Kirpal Sagar developed in all its beauty and turned more and more into a blooming garden. In the year 2002, the foundation stone for the Symbols, the emblem of Kirpal Sagar, was laid. These Symbols were solemnly inaugurated in 2007 during another World Conference on Unity of Man.
She also advanced the work in the West by creating new centres. Her practical example and incredible strength served as guidance and encouragement for all. The name Biji, as she was later called, means ‘mother’ and corresponded to how she connected with the people and with her task ahead – it was a spiritual connection and a responsibility she accepted with all her heart.
On March 19, 2016, a few days after her birthday on March 10, Biji said goodbye to us.
Now everyone is striving to continue the work in the same spirit as Sant Kirpal Singh had already announced – with thousands of hands.