Staying away from worshipping Kuladeivam is like keeping a vessel with a hole. Nothing will stay on the vessel with a hole. Likewise, no good thing will dawn on the person who does not worship his Kuladeivam.”- Kanchi Perivaya
Kanchi Maha Periyava is a great Mahan known for rendering practical pieces of advice that can be followed by even a common man.
Kanchi Mahan was observing Chathurmasya vrata and was visiting many places. In a village, a farmer came to seek Periyava’s blessings and was at the brim of desperation expressing his sad plight. He said that he felt like committing suicide as he faced lots of sufferings in life.
Periyava asked whether he worshiped his Kuladeivam regularly.
The man did not even know who his Kuladeivam was as one of his ancestors broke from the path of worshiping Kuladeivam and his descendants followed him including himself. So, he did not know anything about his Kuladeivam.
Periyava said that staying away from worshiping Kuladeivam is like keeping a vessel with a hole. Nothing will stay on the vessel with a hole. Likewise, no good thing will dawn on the person who does not worship his Kuladeivam.
He also raised a question -why Periyava was so particular about the Kuladeivam when there are various other deities to worship in different temples?
The Mahan did not answer his query. He just asked the man whether any of his ancestors was still surviving.
He replied positively that one of his ancestors was living in the village.
Periyava asked him to contact the old man and gather details about his Kuladeivam. He advised the man to visit the place of his Kuladeivam, do pooja and come back to him after that.
The farmer came after 10 days and was looking happy. He rendered his salutations and said that he did as per the advice of the Mahan. He contacted the old man in the village, came to know about his Kuladeivam, went to the place and worshiped the deity.
His Kuladeivam was Pechiyamman and the place was covered by a bush when he went to worship his Kuladeivam. He and his sons removed all the bush and found a stone in the place and offered their prayers through anointing the stone with water, milk and performing camphor arathi.
Periyava said to the farmer that he should build a temple for his Kuladeivam in that place. He should take care that the lamp should be lighted in his Kuladeivam temple every day and he should visit the temple regularly. On doing so, he would be blessed by the deity and get all good benefits in life.
The happy man now asked Periyava why he did not answer his question - why one should worship Kuladeivam in particular when there are various other gods for worship?
Periyava asked him to come back after one year on exactly the same date. The man came and looked happy. He offered fruits and money to Periyava.
Now Periyava answered his query about Kuladeivam. The answer given by Periyava is worth thinking and following.
The ancestors of a man form a lineage called Gothram and their worship of a particular deity brings prosperity to them as the deity showers all His blessing upon the family for generations after generations and makes them prosperous and happy in life. All these members of this gotra are united by a sense of brotherhood though they may differ in personality, complexion and other such traits.
Our ancestors are the starters of our Kuladeivam worship and our generation continues that. Our worship of Kuladeivam becomes our family tradition. That is why worshipping Kuladeivam is important and it should not be neglected by any man.
When we pray to our Kuladeivam, we not only gain the grace of our Kuladeivam but our ancestors also bless us from their heavenly abode watching our prayers to Kuladeivam. Their sins are also washed away. That is why one should not break from worshiping Kuladeivam and should do it for a lifetime.
So, worshiping Kuladeivam is very important in life as it unites us with our ancestry and helps us gain the blessings of them along with the grace of our Kuladeivam.
How to recognise your Kula Deivam. What is the difference between your Kula Deivam and Ishta Deivam
Generally “Kula Deivam” is a God / Goddess / Demi-God whom one's family worships traditionally through generations. The male children of the family will carry on the tradition and pass it on to their next generation whereas for female children's Kula Devatha will change after their marriage as they've to follow carry on their spouse's tradition. Kula takes care of our generation and each and everyone will be having a kuladeivam. There are two types of Kula Deivam and it can be in form of AYYA ( Male) or AMMA (Female).
On the other hand “Ishta Deivam” is a God / Goddess / Demi-God whom one worship with their own will and wish. One can choose their own Ishta Deivam based on their comfortableness, compatibility, satisfaction, interest or with the guidance of their Guru or Elders.
So one can select their own Ishta Deivam but not Kula Deivam. Kuladeivam is the foremost God in each one our generation. After worshiping Kuladeivam only you can go temples of other form of God.
"Kuladeivam is our family deity accepted and created by our ancestors as a divine force to protect our family and our future generations against any kind of diseases, harms and evils."
How to search and find your Kuladeivam if you don’t know it
Our ancestors are the starters of our Kuladeivam worship and our generation continues that. Our worship of Kuladeivam becomes our family tradition.
Generally, Temple of a Kula deivam is constructed in one's ancestral village or town, will have it as the main deity (Sanctum Sanctorum) while other Gods may also be present in the periphery. The Kula deivam can be formless as well. People who have migrated to other places still visit their ancestral village/town and pay their respects by offerings poojas and feasting. Since in most villages, people of the same community tend to be related, everyone will have the same Kula Daivam.
Generally, People from the same family line visit their Kula Deivam at least once every year and make special pujas for it like abishekam ( sacred bath), padayal (offering fruits, baked rice, sweets etc) for well being of their family. It is the unshaken belief of most of the Hindus that these family deities take care of our family and save from all hardships and hindrances.
However, due to various unexplained reasons, one (or) one's family may totally forget to follow their traditional practices and may have discontinued worshiping their Kula deivam. Its also possible that families gets confused between their Kula Deivam and Istha Deivam generations together and totally forgetting (or) ignoring their Kula Deivam. Some times, due to busy life style (or) location changes one's generations would have totally missed to know about their Kula deivam and would have no clue on how to find it again.
There are various proven methods for finding one's Kula deivam. Couple of methods involves reading of one's horoscope (male children in a family line) or through Prasanna Jothidam. A professional astrologer may help you on performing couple of simple pariharams and some good advice that will bring back your Kula Deivam in to your family focus.
We are in touch with couple of professional astrologers who can help you with finding your Kula Deivam. Call us to know more.
