General - Gods under Hindu culture

The evolution of the concepts of gods in the present form

As per the Hindu Philosophy like others there is one force, power controller of universe which is having no shape, and cannot be seen, touched, smelled or in no way possible to experience the presence except through some life experiences or faith.  Even though the position is so, the philosophy of Hindus recognizes the fact that all human being are not equal in understanding and the level varies to a great extent. The Philosophy also understands that the human mind being what it is will find it difficult to comprehend the position of the ultimate power, the god to be non experienced. Even with form the mind struggles to comprehend. Under the circumstances the question of understanding and concentrating on something with no form, no smell, invisible, not seen in fact cannot be experienced by any of the senses of the human beings does not arise at all. In order to find a way out of this situation the leaders of the philosophy, the Maharishis gave imaginary forms similar to that of the human being and to suit the innumerable level of the human minds created an impression that there are around 33 crores of gods and goddesses and the human beings can find the one appropriate to them from these deities. They also explained the forms of these gods. Later the imaginary artists painted the pictures and the artisans created idols based on the descriptions in the scriptures. In addition to that the Hindu Philosophy also tries to inculcate the feeling of gratitude for the nature and its ingredients for their comfortable life. That is why there are divine deities representing most of the living things right from the human beings downwards.  We can find the elephants represented by Ganapathi, Eagle represented by the Garuda, the snakes represented by the Adi Seshan, Vasuki etc. In addition there are the carriers or vehicles of the gods like the mice, peacock, parrot etc. Then there are the plants, creepers and the trees depicted as divine. With the divinity all these elements which cover almost everything of the nature are to be revered so that the greed of the human beings does not denude the nature of its elements. Then the Hindus are supposed to pray to thank the giver of the water and food in the form of divinity. Even with all these the human beings are denuding he nature at a dangerously fast phase. That is why there are international conferences to find ways to reduce the pollution created by the wanton destruction of the nature and the consequent imbalances created in the nature. 

Now with so much of the deities the Maharishis also prescribed as to how they are to be worshiped or which of the gods and how they are to worshipped. They have devised a scheme for this purpose. They are the Kula Deivam, the Grama (village) deities, the Ishta Deivam (gods of one’s liking) and the gods specific for specific problems in the life. 

Kula Daivam
 

Kula deivam 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 Ganesha in Chathurthi, Saraswathi on Vijaya Dasami, and Siva on Sivarathri, Vishnu on Ekadasi and Pouranamees, Durga during Navarathris etc. While there are many festivals which are national level some are regional festivals and some are local festivals.