Fatehgarh a small but important town, situated on Kasganj- Kanpur section of North Eastern Railway, is civil head quarter of the Farrukhabad district in Utter Pradesh (India). This small town was chosen by Laalaaji Maharaj as center of his spiritual activities and with the lapse of time, came to be regarded as the heartthrob of the mission, which has spread to all corners of India, attracting millions of devotees from all castes and creeds and from different regions, speaking different languages strung together as beads of the same rosary with the thread of love that passes through then all.

The path of saints transcends barriers of caste and creed, race and religion; it is a unifying force that binds man and man through spiritual practice, percept and experience.

It was at this place, Fatehgarh, that Laalaaji who had drunk deep the nectar of life at the feet of the great Sufi saint, Hazarat Fazal Ahmad Khan Sahib Raipuri, for full sixteen years, first lit the lamp of spirituality in the year 1911, which has engulfed every nook and corner of this country and has spread to foreign lands as well. It was here that he chose his final resting place and his mortal remains are laid in his Samadhi, situated in Navadia (Kanpur Road), Fatehgarh (U.P.). Here the seeker after truth throng in ever increasing numbers, as years pass on and assemble once in a year in Easter Holidays at the annual congregation, ‘Bhandaaraa’ to quench their spiritual thirst and renew the bonds of love.

Parampujya Laalaaji Maharaj, a household-saint, assimilated all that was best in different religions, did research and evolved a system, which was most suited to the present circumstances and the short span of life which is the lot of us, the ‘Grahasthas’ (householders) to whom it was mainly addressed. It made possible for them to realize God in their existing lives and that too within the shortest possible time; the Guru(spiritual Master) standing sentinel on them watching their every step to uplift them from Morass in which they might fall and to goad them on the pastures new, irrespective of the fact whether he/she is living with us or not. That was its special feature. Having attained oneness with God, he was best qualified to establish the missing link between man and his creator.

He was not only great spiritual leader but also molded the temporal life of his followers in more ways than ways than one by laying down guide lines for conducting the affairs of daily life in matters of birth, marriage, death etc. He was also great social reformer, advocating a life of simplicity, austerity, without ostentations, doing away with outmoded, expensive and meaningless social customs. He was a champion of adult education, Harijan-uplift widow-remarriage and abolition of dowry. Truly he was ‘Maryaadaa Purushottam’ keeping within bounds all the constraints of life, aimed at a social and spiritual regeneration.

As a result of the benediction of a great saint, the Holy Man Laalaaji was born to Chaudhari Har Bux Rai, the superintendent of Customs and Excise, Farrukhabad, on Basant Panchami, February 2, 1873. Having passed his Middle class ‘Anglo-Vernacular Examination’ in April 1891, he entered in Government service. It was at this time, at the early age of 18, that he came in contact with his peer-o-Murshad (Preceptor) and was formally initiated by him on June 06, 1896 and was granted full powers of the saint-preceptor on October 11, 1896.

He is not only a Saint par-excellence but is a complete Satguru as well. He had not only attained the highest stages of ‘Yoga’, but is such a thorough Master of all its various steps leading to the highest ones, that he could make others to realize any of these stages at his will, at any moment of time, and like a very competent ‘Physician’, he could prescribe both, the cure and the regimen, to his devotees according to their special needs, for which he had the insight of a great seer.

Not only this, he put his experiences in words so as to make them comprehensible for the common man, he was a prolific writer and the numerous works he turned out, bear the stamp of his grasp, learning and scholarship, thoroughly ingrained as he was in all great religions of Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism and Christianity.

He was a great pillar of Santmat (Sufism beyond religion). No rituals, no dogmas and no ceremonies were prescribed by him. His Writings meant for householders are truly soul string and have universal appeal and application. They are simple like truth.

The Holy man Laalaaji lived in a small house (now known as “Laalaaji Nilayam”) in Mohalla-Talaiyalane (renamed as Mahatma Shri Ramchandra Marg), Fatehgarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, is a well known hermitage of NaqshMuMRa Citizens. Parampujya Laalaaji Maharaj served the Government for earning his livelihood. He was epitome of virtue, etiquette, culture, kindheartedness, truth, purity, simple-living and amicability. He did not accept service from others for personal needs rather he used to take pleasure in serving his disciples and devotees, who thronged in numbers at his feet. Such was his human touch that he would described his caste, if ever, equivalent to that of a sweeper and a washer man, perhaps because he was chosen to cleans the Augean stables of the teeming millions. He had immense and un-shakable faith in God.

Laalaaji breathed his last at Fatehgarh (in the house referred to above) on August 14, 1931 and his tradition was ably carried on by his son, Mahatma Jagmohan Narain, till his demise on August 28, 1944. After passing away the later, his son-Mahatma Akhilesh Kumar carried on the work of the mission by publication of the work of his grandfather and by editing a periodical “Adhyaatma Dhaara” till his untimely death on May 15, 1974. Now the burden of carrying on the torch of the Master has fallen on Mahatma Dineshkumar, his younger grandson.

The present Dean of the Seat:

Born on October 28, 1944 Mahatma Dinesh Kumar, the grandson, spiritual and de jure heir of Mahatma Ramchandra Ji (Laalaaji) Maharaj is the present-day Dean of this Seat. A graduate of the Agra University, Dinesh Ji is a householder-saint. After completing about 36 years of his acknowledged services in the Railways, he opted for voluntary retirement in the year of 2002 and is now whole-time servant of ‘Humanity’. His permanent dwelling abode is; ‘Laalaaji Nilayam’, Mahatma Shri Ramchandra Marg, Fatehgarh (UP) India 209601. The aspirants can meet him, with prior appointment. His day-to-day movement is available on this site.

Laalaaji Maharaj at-a-Glance