Kuldevi and Kuladevata — Understanding a Family's Traditional Deity

Kuldevi joins two Sanskrit words: kula, a family or lineage, and devī, goddess. Monier-Williams's Sanskrit–English Dictionary (1899) gives kula-devatā as “the family deity”. When the family's deity is a god, the word is kuladeva — kuldevta in everyday Hindi.^1,2

The same dictionary also records kula-devī as a name of Durgā, in two entries: under kula-devatā it credits H. H. Wilson's dictionary, and under kula-deva it glosses kula-devī as “principal goddess” and cites Bhāgavata Purāṇa 10.52.42, the verse shown below. That is one use of the word. A family's Kuldevi is the form of the goddess that family has kept, under the name it has always used for her.^1,2

Several Sanskrit terms describe different relationships that individuals, families and communities may have with a deity. Their meanings and usage can vary across traditions and regions. Here is what the dictionary gives for each:

These terms describe relationships; they are not separate boxes. A family may honour all four, and one deity can be, for example, both a family's Kuldevi and someone's Ishta devata. The sources we have checked do not rank them, so this page doesn't either.

There is no single list of Kuldevis and no single way of honouring one. The useful questions are about your own family:

When no one remembers, the trail runs through people and places, not through a formula. Work through these in order; each step gives you what the next one needs.

1. 1

   Ask the oldest relatives

   Start with grandparents, and their brothers and sisters, on both sides of the family. Ask the questions above, and write down every name and place, even half-remembered ones.

2. 2

   Pin down the native village

   Find the family's mūl gāṁv — the native village — and its district. Old letters, land papers, family account books and wedding records may name it.

3. 3

   Find your family's pilgrimage priest

   At pilgrimage towns such as Haridwar, Gaya, Prayagraj, Kurukshetra, Pushkar and Deoghar, hereditary priests (pandas) keep handwritten registers — bahi or vahi — of the families who visit: names, native place, births, marriages and deaths. The right priest is found through your home district and village, the search can take time, and most registers are not online. They record family history rather than the Kuldevi herself, but they can give you the names and places the next steps need.⁷

4. 4

   Search the filmed registers online

   FamilySearch holds images of pilgrimage priests' registers in its collection “India, Hindu Pilgrimage Records, 1194–2015”, arranged by the priest's town, the priest's name and the volume. It has no name index, only page images, so be ready to browse page by page. It holds some priests' registers, not all. FamilySearch also notes that women are not named in these registers unless a death is mentioned indirectly, so a mother's or grandmother's side may need other sources. If your family's register is not there, step 3, going to the priest in person, is the way.^8,9,10,7

5. 5

   Ask in the village itself

   With names and a native place in hand, ask the village's priests and oldest residents which shrine your family's line used to visit, and whether the temple there keeps a register of its own.

Frequently asked questions

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Last reviewed: 2026-10-29