u/Flat_Ad6964

Recently I went to my relative's home and I saw no image of our kuldevta instead I saw images of Khatu Shyam I asked my aunt why there's no image she replies we don't know who our kuldevta is? I was shocked because I and my family know about our kuldevta very well and also we have his nishan (sacred symbol iron trishul and chimta) at our home but our aunt couldn't and ok if she and her family doesn't know the kuldevta but instead of discovering she and her family tend to chose khatu shyam instead of their ancestral deity this deeply saddens me alot.

Now, I'm not gonna comment on religious beliefs you are free to whatever you believe but one thing I don't understand is that in our uttarakhand we have such powerful deities like Goljyu, Naar singh, Bhairo baba, Harjyu, Saimjyu, Gangnath, Gad devi, Sem Nagraja etc. but instead of them why are people tend to chose foreign trends and foreign customs i mean I'm not complaining but atleast please don't forget your ancestral deities you firstly left your village and now your ancestral home had become ruins, then you came to city and settled and forgot your mother tongue and even worse you've adopted foreign customs and completely forgot about your past atleast please try to discover your kuldevta your village if you don't know? Rest afterwards believe in whom no one will stop you.

And irony is that people still go to worship their kuldevta through jagar but only when they are facing a downfall I mean wtf is devta your slave? Who's gonna fix up your all mistakes? Why can't you just go your village annually and worship your kuldevta by real genuine devotion rather than spending your money visiting vrindavan, khatu shyam, mahakal etc.

As a pahadi i encourage to everyone to atleast please visit your villages to held an annual worship of our devtas now I know many people don't believe and I don't gonna impose my belief on you but tell me one thing y'all know that due to migration our villages had been plagued and the homes where our forefathers lived has now became ruins atleast in the name of our devtas to connect ourselves with our village, our identity and all because we've now forgot our languages atleast we have social media through it can't we care to discover our kuldevtas our village then hold annual puja for them at villages. Because if we don't care for our traditions our children and upcoming generations will be no more pahadis but will become desis.

So, I have a huge request for y'all is that those who know about their kuldevta it's good those who don't please try to discover and if we've figured out all then let's make a promise when we start earning in every year we shall visit village with our family all connect with our past and hold puja of kuldevta to preserve our traditions and to show our upcoming generations that yes this is our past.

Jai kuldevta 🙏

I've seen plenty of devtas from upper himachal who also have their own shamans (gur/chela) and also their own designated palanquins palkis or even they are represented as just simple mask or trident is there any same tradition like this like deity possession and deities represented as palanquins or trident was also in lower himachal too?

Please share your opinions.

In india as well as also in foreign countries like Mongolia, East Asia, Africa etc. There is concept of spirit possession or deity possession.

Famous Tantra Rudrayamala Tantra also mentions about the Avesha or possession it mentions that when a sadhaka masters Bhairava Sadhana, Sri Bhairava along with his 64 yoginis appear and they all enter into the body of the Sadhaka where the Sadhaka enters into a state of trance and afterwards the heart of the Sadhaka and the yoginis makes the body parts of the Sadhaka as their home. Although the divine already is present within each and every beings.

The Avesha traditions is genuinely present at Nepal and rural regions like in Nepal there's a tradition of Kumari according to local legends king jay prakash malla always every night met with Devi Taleju Bhavani together they played dice game (tripasa) secretly one day the king’s queen became suspicious of her husband's nightly disappearances and secretly followed him to the temple. She watched from the shadows as the king and goddess played their game of dice. Taleju sensed the queen's presence. Furious that the vow of secrecy was broken, the goddess vanished, vowing never to physically appear to the king again. The heartbroken king begged for her forgiveness. Eventually, she appeared in his dream and declared she would henceforth reincarnate on Earth in the body of a young virgin girl.

Then afterwards the tradition of Kumari emerged young toddler girls with 32 divine signs will be chosen as the perfect vessel of goddess then afterwards certain rituals are performed inviting Devi Sri Taleju Mata into the body of the girl and she becomes the living goddess.

Also in the regions of North India like jammu, himachal, uttarakhand, also in central India, east india all also in the tropical regions of south india there are traditions of inviting the divine into the body.

like in jammu there are mediums known as chelas who serves as oracles of deities like nag devta, devi etc. they are also chosen through spiritual signs possession etc then afterwards they become disciples of an elder chela and the elder medium gives them a specific mantra, sadhana to invoke to purify the whole body through adopting Sattvika lifestyle where the medium becomes the living deity themselves and through sadhanas then afterwards to test the divine energy during zagru which happens at naga panchami the medium walk in fire to test afterwards they become a renowned medium.

Similarly in himachal pradesh where mediums of deities also known as chela and gur or maali when someone who gets divine signs they contact to an elder gur where the gur initiates them as their disciple gives them certain Mantra, or sadhana to practice to become the living deity due to the ritual environment they gets into trance state where they temporarily becomes the deity afterwards they also give tests to proof the deity to energize them

Same happens in uttarakhand when someone gets spiritual signs and all they consult an elder medium known as dangari or pashuwa who initiates them gives a specific mantra and sadhana to become living deity certain rules are presented like adopting 26 gunas of divinity mentioned in Bhagwat Gita which makes the medium like the deity afterwards all these initiations they also becomes living deities where during jagar a ritual where drums are played the stories of deities are narrated in a sacred space they enter into trance becoming the deity itself for short period of time.

Same goes to South India too and others

Meaning it's a complex practice where mediums are chosen initiated by an elder were given specific mantra and sadhanas and are recommended to adopt Sattvika lifestyle to become living gods themselves.

But several superstitions in the name of deity possession also exists like many scream like crazy gets hysteria these are involuntary meaning can happen randomly whereas devta avesha only happens during certain rituals rest it doesn't affects the Sadhaka at all. And unknowingly people think that person with disorders are deities well I'm not denying avesha it happens but is controlled it will happened when a sadhaka under an elder medium practices sadhana and mantras adopting Sattvika lifestyle they becomes the deity themselves and during certain rituals they enter into trance while those who are inflicted are not divine, divinity expresses itself through sadhanas, mantras etc. Not by shouting screaming so that's why I recommend them to go to psychiatrist because when a medium gets spiritual signs he gets it from dreams, suddenly goosebumps not by acting crazy.