Sadhu Sundar Singh was an Indian Christian ascetic, who preached the teachings of Christ all over West Asia, Tibet, Nepal and the West. He was born on September 3, 1889 into a wealthy Sikh family in Ramnagar, Ludhiana^[1]. His father, Sher Singh, was looked up to as the chief of the village, with the rank of Sardar. Sundar was the youngest of three brothers. An older sister and cousins were part of the large family. His devout mother took him to a holy man for him to learn about God and also had him enrolled in the town’s Ewing Christian High School to learn English.

Sundar seemed to have a quest for the divine from a very young age. This led him to memorise all of the Bhagwad Gita’s^[2] 700 verses by age seven. Yoga^[3] was another practice young Sundar pursued in his search for peace.

The New Testament was read daily as a ‘textbook’ at school. Sundar however refused to read the Bible… “To some extent the teaching of the Gospel on the love of God attracted me, but I still thought it was false."^[4] The unfortunate death of his mother when he was 14 years old completely devastated him. It sparked off a strong hatred and rebellion towards life in general, and to Christianity in particular.

He persecuted Christians, made fun of their religion and burnt a copy of the Bible, page by page, in public view. Despite his sincere search, he could not find convincing and satisfying answers to his deep, agonising queries about God. His emotional turmoil made him restless and unhappy and he decided to commit suicide by lying down on the railway tracks, right in the way of the Ludhiana Express train which passed close to his house every morning.

That night, he cried out in despair, “Oh, God, if there is a God, reveal yourself to me.” He wept bitterly and prayed for many hours. Just before dawn, his room was suddenly illuminated by a bright light. He opened the door, and found that it was still dark outside. Then he heard a clear, gentle voice saying, “How long will you deny Me? I died for you.” He was startled to see a figure with arms outstretched, deep holes in the palms, as if nails had pierced through them. He was expecting to see one of the many gods he had been worshipping, but was stunned to see Jesus, whom he had rejected all along.^[5]

This overwhelming vision proved to be the turning point in his life. The vision disappeared but the peace and joy remained.

When he informed his father about the vision and his decision to follow Jesus, Sher Singh conducted a formal death/farewell feast for his son and he was cast out of the house.

Sundar joined the American Presbyterian Mission Christian Boys’ Boarding School at Ludhiana in 1904. In 1905, at the age of 16, he was baptised at St. Thomas’ church in Simla. He stayed at the Christian missionary hospital at Sabathu in the Simla region, serving the leprosy patients for a while, and then formally began his preaching ministry, with his New Testament in one hand, walking barefoot, donning a saffron turban and saffron robe, the common garb of Hindu ascetics. 
 
Sadhu Sundar Singh embodied the Hindu ideal of the "seeker of God", while reflecting an authentic Christian lifestyle. His path to Christ found embodiment in the bhakti movement.^[6]

He is quoted as saying, “I am not worthy to walk in the footsteps of my Master, but, like Him, I want no home, no possessions, like Him I will belong to the road, sharing the suffering of my people, eating with those who will give me shelter, telling all men about the love of God.”^[7]

In 1906, he went from Punjab to Kashmir and then through Muslim Afghanistan and Baluchistan. From the foothills of Simla, he could see the snow-clad peaks of Nanga Parbat, a Himalayan peak, beyond which lay the Buddhist land of Tibet. He felt called to preach in Tibet, a land forbidden to missionaries, and he made his first venture there in 1908. His robe offered him small protection against the cold wind and often his feet were left scarred, swollen and bleeding

In 1909, encouraged by Bishop Lefroy of Lahore to join the St. John’s Divinity School and study theology, Sundar enrolled himself but remained reserved, spending more time in meditation and prayer than in the company of other students. He was asked to change out of his saffron robe attire, which he refused to give up. He eventually discontinued his seminary studies. Taking the command of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 10:9 literally, Sundar became an itinerant preacher in the footsteps of his Master.

By adopting the lifestyle of a sadhu, he was attempting to "Indianise" Christianity. He told the story of a Brahmin (the highest caste in the Hindu hierarchy) passenger on a train overcome by heat and dehydration. At the station he was offered water in a white cup. He refused, saying, "I will not break my caste." When the water was brought to him in his own brass vessel, he drank it willingly. It is the same with the "Water of Life", said Sundar Singh. "Indians do need the Water of Life, but not in an European cup".^[8]

During one of his trips to Tibet, Sundar was thrown into a dry well by a lama for "preaching heresy”. He remained there for three days. On the third night, a mysterious helper opened the padlocked gate to the well, let down a rope to free him, and healed his injured arm before disappearing. Sundar described his saviour as an angel, others wondered if it was Christ.^[9] 

He toured Chennai in South India in 1918, and from there journeyed to Sri Lanka. In 1919, he travelled to Burma and Malaya, and sailed to China and Japan.

In October 1919, he returned to his father’s home. Sher Singh welcomed him with joy, having given his heart to the Lord Jesus himself ^[10], and provided for his son “to go on a great preaching tour to the West”. Sundar went to Britain and the US. He also visited Australia in 1920.

He longed to visit Palestine and finally achieved his goal in 1922. After this, he travelled to Europe, briefly visiting Switzerland, Norway, Germany and Holland. But he was disillusioned by the materialism of the West and the Anglican Church.^[11]

In 1923, he returned exhausted from a trip to Tibet. Since he was a lone traveller and never kept a diary, not much is known about his journeys.

He spent many years in solitude after this, devoting his energy to compiling his teachings, stories and parables, and also to writing. His book Wisdom of the Sadhu captures the essence of his teachings in the form of a collection of anecdotes, parables and quotes. He wrote most of his books in Urdu between 1922 and 1927.

For Western evangelical Christians, Sundar Singh’s life and teachings are somewhat contradictory. He was considered by some to be an eccentric and by some others, an ascetic, a missionary pilgrim who walked his way through West Asia and Tibet preaching in an Oriental style. Even Indian Christian leaders have often regarded him as a peculiar figure in his saffron robe, wandering along the roads, oblivious to the distractions of the world, and preaching passionately to everyone about the love of God.

One biographer describes the anecdotes and personal discourses from Sadhu’s life of unselfish service to man, referring to his speech as “often quaint, but always apt, was rendered doubly effective by his arresting appearance and deep tranquility of a countenance lighted up by loving kindness".^[12]      

Although his health was failing, he decided to make another trip to Tibet in 1929. In April of that year, he was last spotted, a frail figure in his saffron robe making the perilous journey up and across the snow-clad mountains. What happened after that remains a mystery. He is believed to have died in 1929 through an accident, snowstorm, or from sheer hunger and exhaustion.

His frugal lifestyle, his devotion to his calling and his record of supernatural encounters with the Master, etched for him a permanent place of respect among Indian Christian preachers of his day, despite a measure of controversy due to his affirmation of universalism^[13].

His life of servitude and sacrifice was filled with a passionate love for the Lord Jesus Christ which he shared with others consistently as he painstakingly followed in the Master’s footsteps, earning him the title of “The Apostle with Bleeding Feet”.