The Damdami Taksal traces itself to Talwandi Sabo in 1706, where Baba Deep Singh Ji taught the reading and interpretation of the Guru Granth Sahib Ji after Guru Gobind Singh Ji dictated the final recension there.
It is a seminary. Its function is santhya, the correct pronunciation and understanding of the text, and it has trained readers, granthis and preachers continuously.
It maintains its own rehat, which is stricter than the mainstream Maryada on several points, and it accepts the full Dasam Granth.
Its head from 1977 was Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who became the central figure of the Punjab conflict of the early 1980s and was killed in the army operation at the Golden Temple in June 1984.
The institution continues, based at Mehta Chowk near Amritsar, with a further line at Bhindran. It is one of the oldest continuously operating educational institutions in Punjab and it is discussed almost entirely through the events of one decade.
Teaching is oral and by repetition. A student sits with a teacher and reads the volume through under correction, over years, and the qualification is that a named teacher says the reading is right.
Its headquarters moved to Mehta Chowk in Amritsar district, and its heads have included figures of considerable influence in twentieth century Sikh politics.
It trains readers and preachers who go out to gurdwaras in Punjab and abroad, and the santhya, the correct reading, is the thing it exists to transmit.