What Are Panda Bahi Records?
A bahi (बही) is a hand-written register maintained by a tirth purohit (तीर्थ पुरोहित), commonly called a panda (पंडा). When Hindu families visit a pilgrimage site (tirth kshetra), the family’s designated panda records details of the visit — names, dates, gotra, native village, purpose (birth, death, shraadh, marriage), and family tree connections.
Over centuries, these bahis accumulated into vast genealogical archives. A single panda family may hold records of thousands of client families spanning 15-20 generations. The records are written in local Hindi dialects with Devanagari script, often using older forms of the script.
Major Centres of Panda Records
How the Panda System Works
The tirth purohit system is hereditary. Each panda family serves specific client families, often based on geographic origin. For example:
- A panda at Haridwar may serve all families from a specific district in UP or Bihar.
- The client relationship is inherited — your family’s panda is the descendant of your great-grandfather’s panda.
- When a family visits, the panda locates their entry in the bahi by surname, gotra, and village name.
- New entries (births, deaths, marriages) are added to the existing record.
- The panda expects a dakshina (donation) for maintaining the records.
How to Find Your Family's Panda at Haridwar
- Contact Ganga Sabha, Haridwar — The Ganga Sabha (गंगा सभा) is an umbrella organisation of pandas at Haridwar. They maintain a directory of pandas by region. Phone: search for “Ganga Sabha Haridwar” online for current contact numbers.
- Provide your details — Tell them your surname, gotra, ancestral village, and district. They will try to identify which panda family serves yours.
- Visit personally — The most effective approach. Travel to Haridwar and visit Har Ki Pauri area. Pandas sit along the ghats. Even if you don’t know your specific panda, nearby pandas can often redirect you.
- Ask family elders first — Your grandparents may remember which panda they visited. They may even have the panda’s name or contact number.
What Information Panda Records Typically Contain
- Names — Full names of family members across generations, with patronymic chains.
- Gotra — Ancestral sage lineage.
- Native village and district — The family’s mool sthan (original home).
- Dates of visits — When the family came for pilgrimages or rituals.
- Purpose — Asthi visarjan (immersion of ashes), shraadh (ancestral rites), mundan (tonsure), marriage offerings.
- Family tree connections — “X son of Y son of Z” chains, sometimes spanning 10+ generations.
- Donations — Records of dakshina given.
FamilySearch: Digitised Panda Records
The LDS Church’s FamilySearch.org has been microfilming Indian records since the 1960s. They have digitised a significant number of panda bahi records from Haridwar and other centres. These are available for free on FamilySearch.org under “India, Haridwar” collections.
However, reading these records requires familiarity with older Devanagari scripts and Hindi dialects. Many are handwritten in cursive styles that differ significantly from modern Hindi.
Challenges with Panda Records Today
- Physical degradation — Many bahis are on deteriorating paper, affected by humidity, termites, and water damage.
- Declining panda families — Younger generations are leaving the profession. Some records have no current custodian.
- Commercialisation — Some pandas charge high fees for record access. Negotiate respectfully but firmly.
- Script readability — Older entries use archaic scripts that modern Hindi readers struggle with.
- No standardisation — There is no central database. Each panda’s records are independent.
How to Digitise Your Panda Records
- Photograph the bahi pages — With the panda’s permission, photograph the relevant pages of your family’s bahi. Use good lighting and a steady hand.
- Transcribe the text — Have someone fluent in older Hindi/Devanagari transcribe the names and dates.
- Enter into ParivaarPro — Use the Family Tree Maker to create digital profiles for each person mentioned.
- Upload bahi photos — Attach the scanned bahi pages as notes or photos on the relevant profiles.
- Share with family — Once digitised, the information is preserved forever and accessible to all relatives.
Other Sources of Purohit Records
- Temple priests — Local temple purohits sometimes maintain records of families who performed major pujas or donations.
- Rajpurohit families — In Rajasthan, Rajpurohits (royal priests) maintained detailed genealogies of Rajput families for centuries.
- Bhatt Brahmin records — In Gujarat, Bhatt Brahmins maintained similar bahi records for Gujarati families.
- Mithila panjis — In Mithila (Bihar/Jharkhand), panji prabandh records maintained by Maithil Brahmins track marriages and lineages going back 1000+ years.
Building Your Own Digital Vanshavali
Whether or not you can access panda records, you can start building your digital vanshavali today. Begin with what you know from living relatives, then expand with historical research. ParivaarPro’s free family tree builder is designed specifically for Indian families, with gotra fields, Hindi rishta labels, and unlimited generations. For the full ancestry-research roadmap, see Apne purvajon ka itihas kaise khoje.
Every family’s vanshavali has to start somewhere. Start yours today.
Purohit Vanshavali FAQ (अक्सर पूछे जाने वाले सवाल)
- Purohit vanshavali online dekhna possible hai?
- Some panda records are digitised on FamilySearch.org. For most families, though, you need to contact your family’s specific panda at Haridwar, Gaya, Nashik or Varanasi to see your bahi entry.
- Haridwar mein apna panda kaise dhundhein?
- Contact Ganga Sabha Haridwar and give your surname, gotra and ancestral village. They maintain a region-wise directory of pandas and can help identify the one who serves your family.
- Kya panda bahi records authentic hote hain?
- Largely yes for entries made during actual pilgrimages. They were written for religious purposes rather than legal claims, so they are generally reliable, though handwriting and old script can make them hard to read.
- Kitne purane panda records mil sakte hain?
- Some Haridwar bahis go back 500+ years (17th–18th century). Most families are able to trace records four to eight generations back.
- Mithila panji kya hoti hai?
- In Mithila (Bihar/Jharkhand), Maithil Brahmins maintain panji prabandh records that track marriages and lineages going back over a thousand years — a parallel system to the tirth panda bahis.