Worship of gods in Hindu custom

Family deity

Kula Daivam or kula devatha (Family deity) is worshiped traditionally through generations (at least by 3 generations) of the family, ancestral god, the deity worshiped by our forefathers and relatives. Hence the deity will have more affinity to the families to which it is deity and will take care of our family and save us from hardships and obstacles. This deity can be any one of the Hindu deities. The Hindus are divided into 3 groups (cults) broadly. One group belongs to the Durga cult. Another one is the Vishnu cult and one more is the Saiva cult. The family deity for every family will be from one of these deities or the deities of one of the incarnations or aspects of these deities. The deity need not be in the place where the family house is presently situated as families might have migrated from one place to another. Kula Deivam is the guardian angel. Kulam means lineage/family and Deivam means god. This will be the main deity of the temple in ones ancestral village/town, though there may be other temples also nearby to this. Kula Deivam is a deity of the ancestral village for generations after generations and where all members of the family do special offerings and is supposed to worship on special and important occasions like child birth, marriage or marriage anniversaries, buying house etc. The family deity never changes where the paternal hierarchy system of family is followed. For girls/ladies after marriage the kula Deivam will be that of the husband. There is a general belief that one gets satisfaction or some good things happenings after visiting the family deity. This may because of the link of worship between self and the forefathers. Where the members of the family do not know which is their family deity and there is no chance to find out, they may be to go to a good and reputable astrologer and find out thorough he horoscope.

Grama Devatha - Village deity

Gramadevatas are mostly female deities. The main deity of the village is the gramadedvatha. It may be brahminical or otherwise. This can be the village deity of one's birth place or place where settled down for a long time. Where there is more than one deity the main deity is the local deity or gramadedvatha. If the gramadedvatha is far away at the birth place, whenever one go there the deity is to be visited and offerings made.

Ishtadevatha or favorite deity

Ishta devatha is the deity of whom one has a fascination. This may start either at an early age itself. It can be any deity. There may be as many Ishta devathas as the number of members in the family as each member may have a separate Ishta devatha.

Deities for specific reasons

These are deities for specific reasons. For example when there are obstacles in any matter attended by the main person in the family there will be a specific deity to remove the obstacles. Similarly for some diseases where the doctors are not in a position to help, there are deities specific depending on the type of disease or the organs affected by the diseases etc.

Deities of festivals

Finally there are deities to be worshiped at religious festivals. In some cases the festivals may be throughout the country like the Ganesha chathurthi or the Vijayadasami, Sivarathri etc. In these cases the deities of concerned has to be worshiped. This may the Ganesh in chathurthi, Saraswathi on Vijaya dasami, Siva on Sivarathri etc. While there are many festivals which are national level some are regional festivals and some are local festivals.

Worship of gods in Hindu custom

Family deity

Grama Devatha - Village deity

Ishtadevatha or favorite deity

Deities for specific reasons

Deities of festivals

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