Consider the following statements about Saint Laldas and choose the correct option from below : A. Saint Laldas remained unmarried throughout his life. B. After the death of Saint Laldas, a temple was built at his Samadhi place.

Correct — option (2), Only B is true.

Statement A is false. The Sahitya Akademi's Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature (Vol. III) calls Laldas a householder who earned his livelihood by manual labour.

The Rajasthan District Gazetteer for Alwar names his son Pahara and his daughter Sarupa. Ganga Ram Garg's Encyclopaedia of World Hindi Literature (1985) names a second son, Kutab.

Statement B is true. Laldas died at Nagla, a village in Bharatpur, and was buried at Sherpur, nine miles north-east of Ramgarh in the old Alwar State.

Major P. W. Powlett's Gazetteer of Ulwur (1878) describes the tomb at Sherpur as a very substantial masonry building, 100 feet long, with a high dome; his body lies in a crypt below. Fairs were held at Sherpur in his honour.

A is false and B is true, so the code is option (2), Only B is true.

The idea to remember: Laldas was a householder saint, and his domed samadhi shrine stands at Sherpur.

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  Only A is true. — This code gets both statements wrong. A is false: Laldas was a householder, and the Alwar District Gazetteer names his son Pahara and daughter Sarupa.

  B is true: Powlett's 1878 Gazetteer of Ulwur describes a large domed masonry tomb over his burial place at Sherpur. Only A is true would describe a saint who never married and had no shrine at his samadhi.

• (3)
  A and B both are true. — This code accepts A, which is false. Both Garg and the Sahitya Akademi encyclopaedia describe Laldas as a householder, and his children are named in the sources.

  A and B both are true would need a saint who stayed unmarried all his life and also has a shrine over his samadhi. Laldas fits only the second half.

• (4)
  A and B both are false., — This code rightly rejects A but also rejects B, which is true. Powlett records the tomb of Laldas at Sherpur as a substantial domed building, with fairs held there in his honour.

  Both false would require that nothing had been built at his burial place, which the 1878 Gazetteer contradicts.

Laldas (1540–1648) founded the Laldasi sect, also called Lalpanth. The Alwar District Gazetteer says he was born of Meo parents and, though nominally a Musalman, followed the tenets of Hindu religion.

His path was nirgun bhakti. Garg describes Ram-smaran and kirtan as the sect's main practice, with Ram formless, and the Gazetteer says Laldas condemned begging vehemently.

He lived as a woodcutter for years, selling firewood gathered in the Alwar hills. His followers, the Gazetteer notes, are called Laldasi sadhs, and many consider him a pir.

Key facts

• Laldas (1540–1648) was born of Meo parents at Dholi Dub (Dhaoli Dhub) near Alwar and founded the Laldasi sect (Lalpanth).
• The Alwar District Gazetteer records that he died aged 108 in V.S. 1705 (1648 CE) at Nagla, a village in Bharatpur.
• He was a householder; the Alwar District Gazetteer names his son Pahara and daughter Sarupa.
• Powlett's Gazetteer of Ulwur (1878) describes his tomb at Sherpur as a domed masonry building 100 feet long.
• Garg names Ram-smaran and kirtan as the sect's main practice, with Ram worshipped as formless.

Common traps

• Equating 'saint' with 'renunciant': Laldas was a householder who lived by his own labour, and his children are named in the sources.
• Mixing his three places: born at Dholi Dub (Alwar), died at Nagla (Bharatpur), buried at Sherpur (Alwar).
• Mixing two poets named Laldas: the Sahitya Akademi encyclopaedia says the Chitavani once credited to him is by Laldas of the Dadu sect.

UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2021 and 2018 here once those papers are published on this site.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Where is the samadhi of Sant Laldas, founder of the Laldasi sect?

  • (a)Sherpur
  • (b)Dholi Dub
  • (c)Nagla
  • (d)Shahpura
  Answer(1) — Laldas was buried at Sherpur, near Ramgarh in Alwar, where a large domed tomb stands. Option (2) is his birthplace; option (3) is the Bharatpur village where he died; option (4) is a seat of the Ramsnehi sect.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  Haridas, Dungarsi Sadh, Prani Sadh and Bhikhan Sadh were associated with which sect?

  • (a)Dadu Panth
  • (b)Laldasi Sect
  • (c)Jasnathi Sect
  • (d)Ramsnehi Sect
  Answer(2) — The Sahitya Akademi encyclopaedia names all four among the disciples of Laldas and their disciples. Option (1) is the sect of Bakhnaji and Rajjab; option (3) is linked to the fire dance in RPSC's 2023 key; option (4) is the sect of Ramcharan of Shahpura.