July

The small town of Kericho is home to Africa’s largest Gurdwara. It is a ‘living’ monument, lovingly dedicated to the memory of one of the greatest Sikh saints of the 20th century outside India, a saint who lived in Kenya for 57 years.

Baba Puran Singh Ji, also affectionately called “Kericho Wala Babaji”, immigrated to Kenya in 1916. He soon set up ‘Kericho Wagon Works’ in the small town of Kericho and focused on earning a living, being a father to his family and helping others in the town, notably through municipal improvement schemes, such as the renovation of hospitals, schools and churches.

His civic contributions were officially recognized by naming the town square “Sant Puran Singh Square.” He also devoted himself to a private life of meditation and maintaining a Sikh way of life, demonstrating that modernity and spiritual growth need not be contradictory. In 1952, Baba Ji’s spirituality was given open recognition by a visiting saint, Sant Baba Mani Singh Ji, from India.

Thereafter, his immense compassion and connection to God drew thousands to Kericho. Feeling obligated to spread the message of Sikhism in the United Kingdom, Baba Ji moved there permanently in 1974. In 1982, Baba Ji endorsed a peaceful mass campaign in connection with the ‘Turban Case’, where a petition handed to Downing Street led to a ruling which would protect Sikh rights of identity under British Law.