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Discovering the 'Roots'

I remember being fascinated by a TV commercial for a website called Ancestry.com. It was a new concept, in 2005 perhaps.  I love how in the US, they trace the roots with the Social Security Number  and form the family tree.

Hailing from India, a country that has existed and birthed generations much earlier that the US; I often wish that our ancestors had some sort of tracking mechanism. I'm glad that the PAN number concept has sprung up in recent times, but nevertheless. How many of us can pin point where we came from?  I would love to know though. Many of us have moved cities. Many of us have parents that made the move earlier on in their careers. I know Indians in the US who were born here because their great grand parents moved here in 1950s.

I am curious to know more about my Ancestory. We don't have any tracking mechanism such as Social Security numbers, but it would be nice if I knew the profession the men folk were involved in, where did the move to, what was their place of worship. All of our ancestors are from South India, that I know for sure. Did they migrate from other village, perhaps from other places, I don't have a clue. There is a theory that Iyers (Ayyars)  may have migrated from northern regions generations ago, I don't know anything about that. Googling on this theory may provide more information.

Hubby and I, happen to trace back to similar roots. Both our dad's are from a village called Kalakkad in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. Both our moms' roots trace to a closeby village called Valliyoor. In Hindu Tradition, each family worships a deity called Kula Deivam (Family Deity). They are considered the ancestral god, whom the forefathers and relatives have worshiped through the ages. This is the guardian angel. Every village has a temple for this Family Deity, since most of the family would live in the same village, and be related and be of the same caste. People who have migrated to other places still visit their ancestral village to pay their respects by offerings. Many youngsters are taking the initiative to visit their 'Kula Deivam' and give back both monetarily for the local community.

Let's put some perspective via a mapping below:






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