NIHAL SINGH DAMDAMIAN, 19th century Nirmala saint, a native of Mimsa village of the former princely state of Patiala, received initiation and religious education at the hands of Mahant Dunna Singh, of Uchcha Buriga, a Nirmala sanctuary at Damdama Sahib, Talvandi Sabo, in present day Bathinda district, and became head of the Buriga after the latter`s death. He was respected for his humility and unassuming nature and for the zeal with which he served in the Guru ka Larigar and the loving care with which he looked after the cattle in the shed. In 1860, he with a band of youthful devotees, went to Dera Baba Ram Rai in Dehra Dun and, felling one of the tallest trees in the pine forest of its extensive estate, brought it to Talvandi Sabo carrying it on their heads all the way to Patiala and thence on bullock carts arranged by Maharaja Narinder Singh of Patiala to Damdama Sahib where it was put up as the religious flagmast. Reaching Damdama Sahib, Nihal Singh humbly stood at the entrance where the sangat had deposited their shoes and would not enter the Takht Sahib until he had obtained pardon by paying penalty for having violated the Sikh code of conduct forbidding any dealings with the followers of Baba Ram Rai.
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BHAGI BANDAR, village 3 km north of Talvandi Sabo (29°59`N, 75° 5`E), in Bathinda district of the Punjab, claims a historical shrine, Gurdwara Jandsar, sacred to Guru Gobind Singh, who visited the site during his stay at Talvandi Sabo. According to local tradition, the jand tree (Prosopis spicigera) and the old well in the Gurdwara compound have existed since before the time of the Guru`s visit. The present complex replacing the old shrine was raised in 1985. The Gurdwara is maintained by the local community.
DAL SINGH (d. 1845), son of Santokh Singh, a follower of Kanhaiya misi under Jai Singh, and of village Talvandi in Gurdaspur district, fought in most of Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s campaigns. He inherited Talvandi and some neighbouring villages. Dal Singh was killed in the first AngloSikh war in 1845 and his estates were resumed by the British.
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DIP SINGH SHAHID. BABA (1682-1757). founder of the Shahid misi or principality as well as of the Damdami Taksal or Damdama school of Sikh learning, was born in 1682, the son of Bhai Bhagata and Mai Jiuni. a Sikh couple living in Pahuvind, a village 40 km southwest of Amritsar. He received the vows of the Khalsa at Anandpur where he stayed for some time to study the sacred texts under Bhai Mani Singh. He rejoined Guru Gobind Singh at Talvandi Sabo in 1706 and, after the latter`s departure for the South, stayed on there to look after the sacred shrine, Damdama Sahib.
