Helping families complete the traditions that may still remain in India
Some families wish to continue traditions connected with India after a bereavement. This can include updating the family Bahi, and, where the appropriate priest advises it, arranging traditional rites in India. When the family cannot travel, Indian Archive can coordinate either the Bahi update on its own, or the Bahi update together with the traditional rites the priest advises.
Your role is simply to make a gentle introduction. We take it from there — including working out, with the priest, what is appropriate. Traditions differ from family to family, and no funeral professional is ever asked to decide which rites apply.
Ashes are not transported to India, and Indian Archive does not transport or handle ashes.
A tradition many overseas families cannot complete alone
For generations, families would travel to their hereditary priest so a death could be written into the family register, often alongside other family changes. Families who settled abroad frequently cannot make that journey, and many have lost contact with the priest connected to their ancestral village.
This is entirely optional, it is not government death registration, and it is not part of any funeral ceremony. Traditions vary between families and regions, so the invitation should always be offered lightly and never presented as a requirement.
What Indian Archive does for the family
- 01
The family gets in touch
They tell us who has died and what they know about their ancestral village, community and gotra.
- 02
We establish the right priest
If the family knows its hereditary Panda, Pandit or Purohit, we work through that route. If contact has been lost, we help identify the appropriate priest or register route.
- 03
The family chooses the route that suits them
Family Bahi Update (£395) coordinates the family-register update alone. Family Bahi + Traditional Rites (£595) is the route we recommend after a bereavement, and also coordinates the traditional rites the appropriate priest advises. The family decides; nobody has to know in advance which rites apply.
- 04
We coordinate the work in India
We communicate with the priest, establish what he needs and arrange local assistance where required. The priest remains the custodian and decides what can be recorded, and the priest advises which traditional practice is appropriate. The priest who holds the Bahi and the priest who performs rites may be the same person or two different people.
- 05
We confirm the outcome
The family receives the outcome of the case and the available completion information.
Supporting material may be included where it is permitted and provided by the traditional record custodian. We never promise a family a photograph of a register page, and we work on a best-efforts basis because the priest decides what can be recorded.
What we ask of you — and what we never ask
- You make a gentle introduction — nothing more is expected of you.
- You give the family the Indian Archive website, your referral link or your referral code.
- The family provides any sensitive information directly to Indian Archive.
- You do not collect family-history information on our behalf.
- You do not handle the Indian Archive payment.
- You are never asked to interpret religious or traditional requirements.
- No pressure is placed on a grieving family at any point.
Suggested wording you can offer a family
“Some families have traditions that may still need to be completed in India after a bereavement, such as updating the family Bahi or arranging traditional rites with the appropriate priest. There is a service called Indian Archive that can coordinate this from here if the family cannot travel. I can give you their details if that would help.”