Koorcham.

[psnarasimhan]

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On what are all religeous functions or rituals a Koorcham is to be used? Is it to be used only by purohits or even by gruhasthas when performing religeous act by himself without the help of purohit? What is the significance of koorcham?

 

[sangom]

On what are all religeous functions or rituals a Koorcham is to be used? Is it to be used only by purohits or even by gruhasthas when performing religeous act by himself without the help of purohit? What is the significance of koorcham?

The word has many meanings in Sanskrit, as shown below:—

kūrca, as, am, m. n. a bunch of any-
thing, a bundle of grass &c. (often used as a seat); a
handful of KuSa grass or peacock's feathers ; certain
parts of the human body, as the hands, feet, neck,
and the membrum virile ; the upper part of the nose,
the part between the eyebrows ; the beard ; the tip
of the thumb and middle finger brought in contact so
as to pinch &c. ; deceit, fraud, circumvention ; false
praise, unmerited commendation either of one's self
or another person, boasting, flattery; hypocrisy;
hardness, solidity ; the mystical syllable hum; (as),
m. the head ; a store-room. kūrca-s'iras, as, n. the
upper part of the palm of the hand and foot ; the heel.
kūrca-śīrṣa or kūrca-śīrṣaka, as, m., N. of
a plant, a drug, commonly called Jivaka, one of the
eight principal medicaments. kūrca-s'ekhara, as,
m. the cocoa-nut tree. kūrca-mukha, as, m., N.
of a Rishi.

(Monier Williams' Dictionary)

In our tabra religious context this word is used in the sense of 'bundle of darbha or kuSa grass'. It is very often used to do āvāhanam of any deity as part of ritual. and also for doing tha āvāhanam of pitrus or manes during Tharpanam and similar pitrukarmas. The number of grasses used will differ in these cases. If a gruhasta is capable of doing any pooja or other religious rite, he can very well use the kūrca also. There is no rule or practice that only purohits can use kūrca.

 

[psnarasimhan]

I am really wondering that there are so many meanings for a simple sanskrit word Kurcha. Coming to my point as you said there is no rule that only purohits should use Kurcha and Gruhasthas also can use it if ,ofcourse,they are capable of doing religious rites. Thank you very much for explaning the subject matter.

 

[Raji Ram]

It is a common practice to put a piece of darbha on milk and curds on grahaNam days.

So, a small bundle of darbha is always kept in the houses.

 

[sangom]

I am really wondering that there are so many meanings for a simple sanskrit word Kurcha. Coming to my point as you said there is no rule that only purohits should use Kurcha and Gruhasthas also can use it if ,ofcourse,they are capable of doing religious rites. Thank you very much for explaning the subject matter.

In the days of vaideeka hinduism (i.e., when the brahmins had only the religious worship as contained in the three vedas - this is known as poorva meemaamsa time in more learned circles) there was no idol worship. The deities or Devatas were therefore, invariably, called to come (āvāhanam) on to a bundle of kuSa or darbha grass, which was even spread at a particular spot in yaagaSaalas to denote the seat for the deity or the deva so requested to come. If you study the rigveda, you will find specific verses giving this practice.

May be, with passage of time, and the shrinking availability of the holy grasses darbha, kuSa, etc., from a bundle, it was reduced to two (in the case of pitrus) and three in the case of devatas.

There is a particular method of "knotting" the grass blades in order to make the kūrcam, btw.