It was founded by Pipal Dass soon after 1900, and it played a role in the Ad Dharm movement to popularize the image of Ravidas as a guru.

[3] In 2009 in Vienna, Sikh militants attacked a Dera Ballan ceremony, killing a senior official and injuring the then-Gaddi Nashin (leader).

In the following year, the Dera formally established a separate religion, Ravidassia Dharm, and they introduced their new religious text, Amritbani Guru Ravidas.

Sarwan Dass was also concerned with the advancement of public education and healthcare, a goal which helped fuel the Dera's popularity.

He also laid the foundation stone of the Sarwan Dass Charitable Eye Hospital at Ballan on 10 November 2004; it opened on 15 February 2007.

[6][1] News of the attack on the temple triggered riots in the Punjab, where three people died in clashes with law enforcement and security forces.

On 29 January 2010, Niranjan Dass formally announced the formation of the Dera's new religion, Ravidassia Dharm, at Seer Goverdhanpur in Varanasi, the birthplace of Ravidas.

[10] According to the researcher Ronki Ram, the Ad Dharm (ancient faith)[1] movement started in 1925 to "fight against the system of untouchability" in India, and it "played a historic role in the formation of Dalit consciousness in Punjab".

[2] The movement was founded by Mangu Ram, who visited Pipal Dass in its early stages for information about Ravidas's teachings and support in compiling them, with the goal of popularizing the guru among Dalits.

[1][2] The Dera also manages the Shri Guru Ravidas Janam Asthan Mandir (Temple of Guru Ravidas's Birthplace)[2] at Seer Goverdhanpur, Varanasi; the Sarwan Dass Charitable Hospital in Adda Kathar, Jalandhar district; and the Sarwan Dass Model School in Phagwara, and they support many other deras and educational institutions in the region.

The leaders of Dera Ballan determined that Ravidas had been born in that locale, and one of them, Hari Dass, laid the temple's foundation stone on 14 June 1965.