Hindu Genealogy Registers At Varanasi

Genealogy registers, of families, maintained by Brahmin Pandits locally called as ‘Pandas’, who double up as professional genealogists, at Haridwar, has been a subject of study for many years now.Brahman pandas
''Divine Enterprise: Gurus and the Hindu Nationalist Movement'', by Lise McKean, University of Chicago Press, 1996. . Page 151.Janasakhi
Janamsakhis of ''Miharban'' and ''Mani Singh'', Janamsakhi Tradition, Dr. Kirpal Singh, 2004, Punjabi University, Patiala. . www.globalsikhstudies.net.''page 169''. In several cases, these voluminous records called as ''Vahis'' (Bahi), have also been used in settling legal cases regarding inheritance or property disputes, as these records are held sacrosanct both by the pilgrims and the Pandas themselves, and in many places these records trace family history, for over twenty prior generations, stretching across many centuries.

As Haridwar has traditionally been a site, for death rites and also Shraaddha, amongst Hindus, it soon also became customary for the family pandits to record each visit of the family, along with their gotra, family tree, marriages and members present etc., grouped according to family and home town. And over the centuries, these registers became an important genealogical source for many families, part of splintered families, in tracing their family tree and family history as well, especially after the Partition of India in 1947, and later amongst the Indian diaspora.Who Do You Think You Are?
''BBC'', " Meera's parents both originate from the farmlands of the Punjab, in north-west India. Her father, Surendra Syal, hails from a small village called Lasara. In India it is difficult to trace your ancestry through documents like birth certificates, in the way that you can in the United Kingdom, but instead Indian family records are kept at shrines in the country's many holy cities. It is in the ancient city of Haridwar, on the riverbanks of the Ganges, that a Hindu priest is responsible for preserving the genealogy of the Syals, in a book called a Bah. It was in this book that Meera found that the Syals have been living in Lasara for the past 250 years."

Hindu genealogy registers

Some notable places where Shraadhs are performed for the Pitrs are noted below. At these sites, it became customary for the family pandits (priest) to record each visit of the family, along with their gotra, family tree, marriages and members present etc., grouped according to family and home town. Over the centuries, these registers became an important genealogical source for many families, part of splintered families, in tracing their family tree and family history.

Baniya

* Barot (caste)
* Bhats
* Bhat Sikhs
* Kulavruttanta

References

Further reading

* ''The Hindu world: an encyclopedic survey of Hinduism'', by Benjamin Walker, Published by Praeger, 1968.

Tracing your Asian roots on the Indian subcontinent
By Abi Husainy, 2011-02-17, BBC

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hindu Genealogy Registers At Haridwar
Indian genealogy
Death customs
Family registers
Haridwar
Social history of India
Databases in India
Genealogy databases