These Pandas take you back in time

Ardh Kumbh Nagar, Jan 24 (UNI) The Pandas of Prayag. They claim online archives and digital records cannot match their thick books.

Known as Prayagwals, they claim to have ancestral records of our forefathers. This belief -- true to a great extent-- makes people make a beeline to visit them in their makeshift homes at the Ardh Kumbh.

Each Prayagwal tent is marked by a fluttering flag--symbolising the territory of which they have records.

The Pandas turn the pages of a book and take you back in time.

It's a book which maintains records of your ancestors. And all you have to do is recognise the Panda of your clan with the help of specific colourful flags, tell them where you come from and the Pandas will show you your family's chronology.

''We ask for the name of the district, village and one's caste. We are then able to tell him of the Panda that he might belong to. Many youngsters these days don't know even the names of their grandfathers. They come here to look up in the book and we help them trace their ancestors,'' said Kedar Nath Panda, dealing with a number of people.

They are registered as a recognised body -- Prayagwal Mahasabha -- with the administeration. ''At present, our number is 1884...we will remain in business as long as devouts throng the melas,'' he added.

UNI