KATHMANDU, APRIL 29
The bust of late Bahadur Singh Baral, a Nepali poet and an Indian Army veteran, was unveiled at the premises of the Guru Gorakhnath Temple in Bhagsu, Dari in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India. He established this temple in April 1955.
Late Baral, who hails from the then Palpa (Now Nawalpur) district, was a captain in the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Gorkha Rifles of the then British Indian Army. On 16 June 1913, Baral was directly commissioned as a Jamdar in the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Gorkha Rifles. Gradually promoted to Subedar Major, he retired in 1935. After that, from 1935 to 1939, he was active in social reform works as the president of the 'All India Gorkha Association' as well as president of the 'Gorkha Dhoghbhet/Satsang Pracharini Sabha'.
With the advent of WWII, upon the government's request, he re-entered military service and served till 1952. During this period, he was awarded the rank of an 'honorary captain'.
While serving as a Subedar Major, with the start of WWI in 1914, he led his battalion into battle in France. He was decorated with the 'Member of the Victorian Order (MVO)' and 'Order of British India (OBI)'.
During the 1951 revolution, he provided financial support to the top Nepali Congress leaders including BP Koirala. During the early phase of the revolution, he and his youngest son Khadgajeet Baral (later IGP of Nepal Police and residential Nepali Ambassador to Myanmar) participated in the Bairgania Sammelan in Bairgania, India.
Bahadur Singh is also known for starting the trend of using the phrase 'Jay Gorakh'.
Adept in singing since childhood, Bahadur Singh was known as 'Shankhaswar' in the Gorkha Army. The book 'Baral ko Ansu' is a collection of songs, ghazals, and bhajans composed by him in the Nepali language. There are 168 compositions in this book. This book is considered a collection of patriotic/national, socio-cultural and ethnic awakening, policy-oriented, and religious songs/ghazals.
Baral ko Ansu was published in five editions in this order: 1932, 1933, 1935, 1936, and 1938 CE. In 1993, it was republished as a new edition by Khadgajeet Baral. The final version of the book, published in 2013, was edited by Dr. Khagendra P. Luitel, Head of the Nepali Department of Tribhuvan University.
The unveiling program was attended by Dr. Khagendra Prasad Luitel, former MP Dilkumari Rai Bhandari, and Bikram Pandey Kaji, the Goodwill Ambassador of Lumbini, appointed by the Nepal government.
