Hindu genealogy registers at Varanasi

The Manikarnika Ghat on the Ganges, where cremations and death rites are performed and genealogy records are recorded and maintained.
Manikarnika Ghat in 1922. Temples are L to R: Baba Mashan Nath, Lower level: Tarkeshwar and Ratneshawar, upper level: Tripur Sundari and Ganesh

The Ghats of Varanasi on the Ganges River are a site for Hindu pilgrimage where death rites (pind daan) are performed, specially at Manikarnika Ghat. It soon also became customary for the family pandits (priest) to record each visit of the family, along with their gotra, family tree, marriages and members present, 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. The main center of genealogy records is not Varanasi, but the Hindu genealogy registers at Haridwar.

Genealogy records

In India, Charans are the bards who traditionally keep the written genealogy records of various castes. Some notable places where traditional genealogy records are kept include the Hindu genealogy registers at Varanasi; Hindu genealogy registers at Kurukshetra, Haryana; Hindu genealogy registers at Peohwa, Haryana; Hindu genealogy registers at Haridwar (the largest genealogy registers in north India); Hindu genealogy registers at Chintpurni, Himachal Pradesh; Hindu genealogy registers at Jawalamukhi, Himachal Pradesh; and Hindu genealogy registers at Trimbakeshwar, Maharashtra. This custom is similar to Panjis or Panji Prabandh, the extensive genealogical records maintained among Maithil Brahmins in Bihar.

Genealogy registers of families, maintained by Brahmin pandits (priests) or 'Pandas', who double as professional genealogists, have been a subject of study for many years.[1][2] In several cases, these voluminous records or 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,[1] and in many places these records trace family history, for over twenty prior generations, stretching across many centuries.[3][4]

Records on microfilm

Starting around 1977,[3] Hindu genealogy records were microfilmed, and later housed at the Genealogical Society of Utah (GSU), USA, since 1981. Other places in these records having records of Hindu families are Kurukshetra, Pehowa, Chintpurni, Jawalapur, and Jawalamukhi.[5][6][7] The Genealogical Society of Utah currently restricts online access to the Hindu genealogy records to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Brahman pandas Divine Enterprise: Gurus and the Hindu Nationalist Movement, by Lise McKean, University of Chicago Press, 1996. ISBN 0-226-56010-4. Page 151.
  2. ↑ Janasakhi Janamsakhis of Miharban and Mani Singh, Janamsakhi Tradition, Dr. Kirpal Singh, 2004, Punjabi University, Patiala. ISBN 81-7205-311-8. www.globalsikhstudies.net.page 169.
  3. 1 2 "Reporter at Large, The Mountain of Names", The New Yorker, May 13, 1985.
  4. ↑ Abstract - Alex Shoumatoff, A Reporter at Large, "THE MOUNTAIN OF NAMES," The New Yorker, May 13, 1985, p. 51.
  5. ↑ India Genealogical Society of Utah.
  6. ↑ Tracing your Asian roots www.overseasindian.in.
  7. ↑ Hindu Pilgrimage Marriage Records www.movinghere.org.uk.

Further reading

Media related to Family trees at Wikimedia Commons Media related to Haridwar at Wikimedia Commons

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