Aryatheautistic at 15:44, 7 May 2026

2026-05-07T15:44:55Z

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{{Short description|Sikh linguist and researcher}}

'''Jvala Singh''', born '''Sukh Sembhi''',<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jvala Singh |url=https://asia.ubc.ca/profile/jvala-singh/ |access-date=13 October 2024 |website=University of British Columbia}}</ref> is a Sikh linguist and researcher on [[Braj literature|Braj]] and [[Punjabi literature]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Khabar 2020-201 |url=https://southasia.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/2022-10/Khabar_2021-web.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623044956/https://southasia.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/2022-10/Khabar_2021-web.pdf |archive-date=23 June 2023 |publisher=[[University of California, Berkeley]] |page=21}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Kaur-Bring |first=Narinder |date=19 December 2020 |title=Autoethnography: A Potential Method for Sikh Theory to Praxis Research |journal=Religions |volume=11 |issue=12 |pages=681|doi=10.3390/rel11120681 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Pashaura |title=The Routledge Companion to the Life and Legacy of Guru Hargobind: Sovereignty, Militancy, and Empowerment of the Sikh Panth |date=9 August 2024 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781040106365 |chapter=2: Situating the Guru in Indian History - Suraj Prakash |doi=10.4324/9781003505976-2}}</ref> A major focus of his is creating English translations of pre-colonial Sikh literature to increase their availability to present-day Sikhs.<ref name=":6" /> Jvala Singh has been educated through both traditional ''[[Sampradaya|sampardic]]'' and academic institutional means.<ref name=":6" /> He specializes in Sikh history, scripture, poetry, and grammar.<ref name=":6" />

== Biography ==
Jvala completed his [[Master of Arts]] (M.A.) at the [[University of Toronto]], where he focused on [[Braj literature]] produced by Sikhs covering Sanskrit epics, such as the ''[[Ramayana]]''.<ref name=":0" /> Prior to starting his Ph.D., Jvala underwent training through traditional scholarly lineages of mentor-protégé in India.<ref name=":2" /> He completed his Ph.D. at the [[University of British Columbia]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> The focus of his research was examining pre-colonial Sikh narratives in Braj and Punjabi literature from the 18th and 19th centuries.<ref name=":0" /> He worked on a dissertation regarding [[Kavi Santokh Singh|Kavi Santokh Singh's]] ''Suraj Prakash''.<ref name=":2" /> He has researched [[Vir Singh (writer)|Vir Singh's]] publication of the Suraj Prakash.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Jvala |title=Bhai Vir Singh (1872–1957): Religious and Literary Modernities in Colonial and Post-Colonial Indian Punjab |date=27 April 2023 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781000867008 |editor-last=Malhotra |editor-first=Anshu |chapter=9: Vir Singh's Publication of the ''Gurpratap Suraj Granth'' |pages=150–165 |doi=10.4324/9781003298939-9 |editor-last2=Murphy |editor-first2=Anne}}</ref> He is a lecturer of the [[Punjabi language|Punjabi-language]] at the [[University of California, Berkeley]].<ref name=":0" /> He is also a lawyer.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Singh |first=Mandheer |date=14 April 2022 |title=23: Jvala Singh – The Suraj Podcast |url=https://www.netnihung.com/podcast/23-jvala-singh-the-suraj-podcast/ |access-date=21 July 2024 |website=Net Nihung}}</ref>

He is the author of ''54 Punjabi Proverbs'', a book covering classic and elusive Punjabi proverbs by rendering them in English.<ref>{{Cite web |title=UKPHA Virtual Book Club: 54 Punjabi Proverbs |url=https://www.ukpha.org/event/jvala-singh?56ddf63f_page=4 |access-date=21 July 2024 |website=United Kingdom Punjab Heritage Association (UKPHA)}}</ref>

On 17 June 2024, he presented a lecture titled ''The All-Metal Text (Sarbloh Granth), A Sikh Retelling of a Jain Text?'' on the [[Sarbloh Granth]] at the CSASA-ACESA's Congress 2024 Meeting.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024 |title=Congress 2024 Presentation Schedule |url=https://csasa-acesa.org/congress-2024-presentation-schedule/ |access-date=21 July 2024 |website=Canadian South Asian Studies Association}}</ref>

Jvala Singh completed his [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] at the Department of Asian Studies of the University of British Columbia under the supervision of Anne Murphy with the following doctoral thesis titled ''The splendor of several suns : the Gurpratāp Sūraj Granth and the Sikh intellectual tradition in the early 19th century''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sembi |first=Jvala Singh |title=UBC Theses and Dissertations: The splendor of several suns : the Gurpratāp Sūraj Granth and the Sikh intellectual tradition in the early 19th century |url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/soa/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/24/items/1.0443950 |access-date=30 July 2025 |website=The University of British Columbia: Library - Open Collections}}</ref> In April 2026, Jvala Singh digitized the Japanese translation of ''[[Japji Sahib]]'' by [[Tomio Mizokami]].<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |last=Singh|first=Jvala|date=April 2026|title=Japanese Japuji Sahib Translation|url=https://manglacharan.com/Tradition+and+History/Japanese+Japuji+Sahib+Translation|access-date=26 April 2026|website=Manglacharan}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Singh |first=Jvala |date=21 April 2026 |title=Japanese Translation of Japuji Sahib available on www.manglacharan.com |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/DXZwC9jjBzd/ |access-date=28 April 2026 |website=Instagram}}</ref>

== Projects ==

=== ''Manglacharan'' ===
Jvala Singh runs Manglacharan.com, which is an open-access website that hosts many first-ever English translations of specific Sikh literature.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Singh |first=Jvala |date=2024 |title=Projects |url=https://www.studysikhi.com/projects |access-date=23 December 2024 |website=Study Sikhi}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Faculty - Jvala Singh |url=https://www.yogicstudies.com/jvala-singh |access-date=23 December 2024 |website=Yogic Studies}}</ref> It is an attempt to decolonize the access to Sikh philosophy and to reclaim Sikh works from colonial constructs.<ref name=":4" />

=== ''Suraj Podcast'' ===
Jvala Singh is the creator of the ''Suraj Podcast'', sourcing his content for the podcast from the ''[[Suraj Prakash]]''.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Each episode of the Suraj Podcast is a summary in English of a chapter from the Suraj Prakash, covering the life-stories of the Sikh gurus and their associates.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /> Each episode of the Suraj Podcast is around 10–15 minutes long.<ref name=":3" /> All the stories covering [[Guru Hargobind]] in-particular from the Suraj Prakash have been retold by Jvala Singh in the original ''Suraj Prakash'' podcast.<ref name=":2" />

The Suraj Podcast allows for Sikhs who are not well-versed in Braj or Sanskrit, to become familiar with the traditional tales found within the Suraj Prakash, allowing for Sikh reclamation of the text.<ref name=":1" /> The Suraj Podcast is an example of Sikhs utilizing the Internet, and social-media in-particular, to narrate ''[[Sakhi]]s'' to a larger and more international audience than traditional spaces allow for.<ref name=":1" /> Jvala presents the Suraj Prakash in the podcast as unfiltered, authentic history.<ref name=":2" />

''Suraj Podcast X'' ("Suraj Podcast Dasvi") has since been launched as a sequel to the original podcast, covering the life-stories related to [[Guru Gobind Singh]] found in the Suraj Prakash.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Singh |first=Jvala |title=Homepage |url=https://www.surajpodcast.com/ |access-date=21 July 2024 |website=Suraj Podcast}}</ref>

=== ''Study Sikhi'' ===
In January 2025, ''Study Sikhi'', an online Sikh educational institution with enrollable courses set-up by Jvala Singh, was launched.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Singh |first=Jvala |date=2024 |title=Homepage |url=https://www.studysikhi.com/ |access-date=23 December 2024 |website=Study Sikhi}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Singh |first=Jvala |date=2024 |title=About |url=https://www.studysikhi.com/about |access-date=23 December 2024 |website=Study Sikhi}}</ref>

The following courses were planned to be made available in 2025:<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Singh |first=Jvala |date=2024 |title=Courses |url=https://www.studysikhi.com/courses |access-date=23 December 2024 |website=Study Sikhi}}</ref>

* SS 101 - ''Intro to the Sikh Tradition''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Singh |first=Jvala |date=2024 |title=SS 101 {{!}} Intro to the Sikh Tradition |url=https://www.studysikhi.com/ss101 |access-date=23 December 2024 |website=Study Sikhi |quote=}}</ref><ref name=":5" />
* SS 102 - ''The Making of Modern Sikhism<ref name=":5" />''
* SS 201 - ''Intro to Japu Ji Sahib''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Singh |first=Jvala |title=SS 201 {{!}} Intro to Japu Ji Sahib |url=https://www.studysikhi.com/ss-201-intro-to-the-japuji-sahib |access-date=4 June 2025 |website=Study Sikhi}}</ref>

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Jvala |url=https://punjabilibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Nihangnama_PunjabiLibrary.pdf |title=Nihangnama (The Nihang Treatise) |publisher=Punjabi Library |year=2019}}
* {{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Jvala |title=54 Punjabi Proverbs: A Book of Punjabi Wisdom Passed Down Through the Generations |date=August 2019 |publisher=Tattva |isbn=9781999862497}}
* Sembi, Jvala Singh (2024). [https://open.library.ubc.ca/soa/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/24/items/1.0443950 ''The splendor of several suns : the Gurpratāp Sūraj Granth and the Sikh intellectual tradition in the early 19th century''.] Department of Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of British Columbia. DOI 10.14288/1.0443950.
* {{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Jvala |title=The Ballad of Chandi: Poems of Resistance and Victory |last2=Singh |first2=Itvinder |year=2026}}<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025|title=The Ballad of Chandi: Poems of resistance and Victory|url=https://www.studysikhi.com/the-ballad-of-chandi|access-date=25 September 2025|website=Study Sikhi}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Singh |first=Jvala |title=The Ballad of Chandi |url=https://balladofchandi.com/ |access-date=28 April 2026 |website=Ballad of Chandi}}</ref>
* Singh, Jvala. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/403134359_A_Sikh_Advaita_Vedanta "A Sikh Advaita Vedānta."] ''Modern Asian Studies'' (2026): 1-28. Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, Cambridge University Press, DOI:10.1017/S0026749X25101674.
== See also ==
* [[Sikh Studies]]

== References ==
<references />

== External links ==
* [https://asia.ubc.ca/profile/jvala-singh/ UBC page]
* [https://sseas.berkeley.edu/people/jvala-singh UC Berkeley page]
* [https://manglacharan.com/ Manglacharan.com] – English translations of previously untranslated pre-colonial Sikh texts
* [https://www.surajpodcast.com/ Suraj Podcast]

[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:University of Toronto alumni]]
[[Category:Linguists of Punjabi]]

Jvala Singh - Revision history

Aryatheautistic at 15:44, 7 May 2026