Pandit Tara Singh Narotam

Pandit Tara Singh Narotam
Pandit Tara Singh was the most well-known Nirmala sadhu.
Native name	ਪੰਡਤ ਤਾਰਾ ਸਿੰਘ ਨਰੋਤਮ
Born	1822 Kalma, Gurdaspur, Punjab, Sikh Empire
Died	1891 Patiala, Patiala State
Language	Punjabi, Sanskrit
Ethnicity	Punjabi
Notable works	Gurmat Nirnay Sagar, Sri Gur Tirath Sangrah and Guru Girarath Kos

Pandit Tara Singh Narotam (1822–1891) or also Pundit Tara Singh Nawtam was a famous Punjabi scholar who belonged to the Sikh Nirmala Sect. He made many contributions to Sikh theology and Sikh literature, he discovered Hemkunt, and he became the Sri Mahant (head) of the Nirmal Pachchayati Akhara at Kankhal.

Pundit Tara Singh was born into a Sikh family. At the age of twenty he left his village, which was near Qadian, and he arrived at the Niramala dera of Sant Gulab Singh at Kurala, Hoshiarpur. Here he was initiated into the Niramala order and taught the Sikh texts and scriptures. For further learning he went to Amritsar and also to Kashi where he studied Sanskrit and Vedic literature. He then spent some time in the Bengali city of Shantipur. He also attended the Arddha Kumbha 1861 at Haridwar.

He was now a renowned scholar and had accumulated some fame throughout the region. The Maharaja of Patiala, Maharaja Narinder Singh (1824–1862) gave patronage to him after which Tara Singh came to Patiala and established his own Nirmala dera by the name of Dharam Dhuja and began doing scholarly work. Pundit Tara Singh taught a large group of scholars which include the famous Sikh historian Giani Gain Singh (1822–1921) and Bishan Singh Ji Muralewale of the Damdami Taksal. Sant Attar Singh (1822–1927) also studied from a Nirmala sect during this time. In 1875 Pundit Tara Singh was made the Sri Mahant (head) of the Nirmal Pachchayati Akhara (Kankhal), the central organisation of the Nirmala sect.

Maharaja Narinder Singh of Patiala commissioned to Pandit Tara Singh Narotam to compile a comprehensive list of all the gurudwaras commemorating the life and work of the Gurus. This work was entitled Sri Gur Tirath Sangrah and published in 1884. Pundit Tara Singh provided the descriptions of 508 different locations and Hemkunt was of one of these.