Bhai Taru Singh — Scalped for Dharam

In the 18th century, the Mughal governor Zakariya Khan unleashed a brutal campaign to exterminate the Sikhs. Bhai Taru Singh, a young and devout Sikh farmer from village Puhla, secretly supplied food and resources to Sikh warriors hiding in the forests.

He was betrayed and arrested. When brought before Zakariya Khan in Lahore, he was offered high positions and wealth if he converted to Islam and cut his Kesh (unshorn hair, an article of faith for Sikhs).

Bhai Taru Singh fearlessly replied, "My hair is inseparable from my head, just as my faith is inseparable from my soul. I will not part with either."

Enraged, the governor ordered that Taru Singh's hair be forcibly cut. But according to legend, his hair became hard as steel, and the scissors broke. Zakariya Khan then ordered a cobbler to scrape off Bhai Taru Singh's entire scalp along with his hair using an iron scraper (Rambi).

As his scalp was slowly and painfully peeled off, Bhai Taru Singh sat in deep meditation, peacefully reciting the Japji Sahib. He did not utter a single cry of pain, his face radiating divine calm.

Remarkably, Zakariya Khan was struck by a severe urinary disease the very same day. Knowing he was cursed for torturing a saint, the governor begged for forgiveness and was told to hit his own head with Bhai Taru Singh's shoe to urinate. Zakariya Khan died shortly after, and Bhai Taru Singh breathed his last peacefully 22 days later, his faith completely intact.