Former International President of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and India’s renowned Orthopaedist Padma Shri Dr Rabindra Narayan Singh was born in Saharsa district of Bihar in Golma Village. He did his MBBS in 1970 and MS in 1976 from Patna Medical College & Hospital. Then he served as a teacher of Anatomy at Nalanda Medical College and afterwards opted for higher studies in England. There too he worked as a teacher of Anatomy in Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical College and worked in many more institutions.
Dr Rabindra got a Fellowship from Edinburgh’s Royal College of Surgeons in 1976 and while he was there, he acquired an MCH degree in Orthopaedics from Liverpool University in London. He got many job offers abroad but his father, who was a famous District Magistrate of his time, always wanted his son to return to India and serve his motherland.
After his return to India, Dr Rabindra has been working as the Director of Radha Vallabh Health Care & Foundation at Kankarbagh and at Anoop Institute of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation. There are only four big hospitals based on this model in our country. They are Sancheti Hospital in Pune, Kulkarni Institute at Miraj, Ganga Hospital in Puducherry, and Bhattacharya Institute of Orthopaedics in Kolkata. He also established Savera Cancer and Multispecialty Hospital. In recognition of his notable achievements, Outlook Group magazine awarded him the title of ‘Icons of Bihar’ in 2018.
Dr Rabindra was always inclined towards social causes. He joined the Red Cross Society in Patna in 1983 and ever since he has been treating 20 patients free of cost, every Tuesday. He has been aiding an Orphanage at Rajendra Nagar, called Kishore Dal Shishu Bhavan, in every possible way since 1990. He started ‘Indu Devi Chhatra Protsaahan Raashi’ in memory of his mother Late Indu Devi. Here, scholarship is provided to intelligent girls belonging to their ancestral village, Golma.
In 2003, after the untimely demise of his third daughter, Pushpanjali Singh, Dr Rabindra and his wife Kavita Singh started ‘Pushpanjali Shiksha Kendra,’ where they provide free education to children living in poverty. Dr Rabindra urges affluent people to adopt at least one girl and take the responsibility of educating them so that they can join the mainstream of society.
Dr Rabindra was felicitated with a Gold Medal in 2009 by the then Governor of Bihar, Honourable R.L. Bhatia, for his significant contribution to the Red Cross. In 2010, he received the Padma Shri for his remarkable service in both the social and the medical fields. He is not only working as the Director of Bihar’s Blind People’s Association but also setting an example for others to bring the differently abled to the mainstream.
Based on the life of Dr Rabindra Narayan, a film has been directed by Mr. Dinesh Anand. ‘A documentary on Dr Rabindra Narayan Singh’ can be viewed on YouTube.
Padma Shri Dr Rabindra Narayan Singh believes that pilgrimage has its importance in Indian culture. All those who enter Vanaprastha often have a desire to undertake a pilgrimage.
“It is said that in ancient times, sons would attain virtue by sending their parents on a pilgrimage. But today, there have been so many changes in material life that the desire to go on pilgrimage is decreasing. The main reasons are changes in social structure, lack of time, absence of children in old age, etc. The number of pilgrims is decreasing. Based on population, there has not been a decrease in the number of pilgrims, but the increase that should have occurred is not also visible. There are thousands of places of pilgrimage in Sanatan Dharma, and all have their importance, in which the journey of Char Dham is paramount.”
Padma Shri Dr Rabindra Narayan Singh, former International President of Vishva Hindu Parishad, says faith in religion has increased among Hindus living in the country and abroad. However, according to the rapidly growing population, Hindu society is still very small. “Youth are the future of our country, and it is our moral duty to connect the Hindu youth of India with our religion,” he says.
On 20 June 2023, His Excellency, Governor of Bihar, Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, along with Padma Shri Dr R.N. Singh, inaugurated India’s first Hindu Tirth Bhawan, supported by the Hindu Tirth Bhawan Charitable Trust. The “Hindu Thirth Bhawan” is probably the country’s first pilgrimage centre that will provide all the information about the pilgrimage centres not only of Bihar but of the entire India to the pilgrims under one roof.
A travel desk will soon be started in this pilgrimage building located in Ashiana Nagar Phase 2, Patna, which will make proper arrangements for air, road, and rail travel, besides providing adequate information to Hindu pilgrims about their journey. The establishment of Haj Bhavan provides all the facilities for Haj pilgrimage in a particular religion, and Christianity also has its separate arrangement for this.
Padma Shri Dr R.N. Singh further says establishing Tirth Bhawan in Hinduism is also necessary. Apart from the facilities to visit various pilgrimage sites here, all the information related to pilgrimage sites will be easily available at such Bhawans. He views this building as a catalyst because, seeing such facilities, many people can think about pilgrimage. This is the path that will not only unite Hindus but will also increase their faith in religion.
Padma Shri Dr Singh says that the Hindu pilgrimage building established in Patna has been constructed on the land donated by Padma Shri Dr S.N. Arya with monetary support from people. He has appealed to all the Hindus in the country and abroad to come forward and donate as much money as possible to the trust’s account so that more Hindu Tirtha Bhavans can be constructed all over India and the glorious Sanatan culture can be further strengthened.
“Youth are the future of our country, and it is our moral duty to connect the Hindu youth of India with our religion,”