If we compare the story of kuber from our ancient

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If we compare the story of kuber from our ancient scriptures with the story of santa
claus then you will find that all the stories and descriptions related to santa claus can be
associated with stories of indian Deity kuber. In addition to comparison of santa claus
with kubera, I will also be sharing some more additional details of deity Kuber which is
missing in the description of santa claus..
Kuber is deity of wealth
I n I ndia, G oddes s laks hmi is us ually regarded as the goddes s of
wealth. But in reality, goddes s laks hmi is the goddes s of fortune
whic h indirec tly means Wealth and D eity kuber is regarded as
the god of wealth. H e is c ons idered as the king of s emi divine
s pec ies c alled as yaks has . Regarded as the regent of the north,
he is c ons idered as the owner of all the treas ures of the world.
Kuber is often depic ted as the fat man with a huge belly adorned
with jewels , c arrying treas ures and wealth in his pot or bag.
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D eity Kuber
Similarities between Santa C laus and D eity Kuber
1) In Hindu mythology, Kuber is depicted as fair complexion dwarf with a huge fat
belly. Kuber holds a mace one hand and a money bag/pot and precious gifts in his other
hand. Similarly, Santa Claus also holds a bag with gifts, money and other worldly
treasures on his hand.
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Santa C laus
2) Kuber complexion is described as that of lotus leaves which means his skin was
pink or reddish-pink in color. Even Santa Claus as shown in the above image, is often
shown in pinkish complexion with clothes reddish pink in color.
3 ) Kuber is s aid to be the god of wealth and the king of all
treas ures of the world. E ven Santa C laus is s aid to have
abundanc e of wealth and prec ious gifts . (C hec k below image)
4) Kuber is called as the giver of wealth and the guardian of travelers. Infact, in
Vis hnudharmottara Purana, Kuber is des c ribed as the embodiment
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of both Artha (wealth, glory, pros perity) and Arthas has tras
(knowledge and s ourc e of all wealth). E ven Santa C laus is s aid
to be guiding travelers and is often depic ted as dis tributing gifts ,
money, c hoc olates to c hildren’s , kids or anyone who as ks for
it.
5 ) Kuber is s aid to be a drunkard, s ymbolized by a nec tar
ves s el in his hand. T hough not c alled as a drunkard, Santa C laus
is als o s hown as drinking wine in a glas s .
O n the left, you c an s ee Santa C laus with wine on one hand and
treas ure on another. Simialrly, on the right you c an s ee Kuber
with nec tar ves s el on one hand and treas ures on another.
6) Kuber is called as the king of semi divine dwarf beings called as yakshas, s ,
G uhyakas , and KinnaraGandharvas , who ac t as his manager,
as s is tants and protec tors of the treas ures , as well as guardians
of his c ity Similarly, Santa C laus is c alled as the king of s emi-
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divine H alflings beings c alled as elf who c reate, manages and
protec t the treas ures and als o ac t as the guardian of the
c ity.
7 ) Y aks has in H indu mythology are s aid to be the dwarf human
beings having magic al power while the elf in wes tern mythology
are c ons idered to be the dwarf ones having magic al power.
O n the left is the I mage of Y aks has from T hailand while on the
right, you c an s ee elves .
8) Kuber residence is said to be the extreme north with surroundings completely
covered with snow. His residence is called as ‘Alaka’ or ‘Alaka-puri’ which etymologically
sounds very similar to Alaska, the snow-covered north region of North American
continent. In America, santa claus is believed to be residing somewhere in extremely cool
snow covered area of Alaska.
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L eft is A laka- puri, dwelling plac e of Kuber while right is
M andragora, dwelling plac e of elf.
9) Kuber is considered as the Lord of mythical animals. This reference to mythical
animals actually refers to animals of Polar Regions like reindeer, Polar bears, Seals etc.,
which is not found in the rest of the world and so seems to be mythical to a person
seeing them for the first time. Santa Claus is also shown very close to animals well
depicted in his sleigh vehicle carried by reindeer or the polar dogs.
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Santa C laus on s leigh vehic le
1 0 ) I n Ramayana, there is a mention of L ord Brahma, pleas ed
with Kuber s evere penanc e, honoring him all the ric hes of the
world (Nidhis ), "equality with gods ”. O riginally an A s ura(demon),
Kuber was c onferred as the deity of wealth and was gifted a flying
c hariot known as “pus hpak viman”. T he des c ription of this flying
c hariot is s trikingly s imilar to the des c ription of Santa C laus
flying s leigh vehic le exc ept that the reindeer is replac ed by
Swan but note the fac t that in c as e of Santa C laus , reindeer is
s ometimes s hown as polar dogs or beers and henc e the animal
is not fixed. E ven in pus hpak viman, s ome s c riptures s ugges t it
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to be driven by hors es ins tead of s wan.
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L ord Rama, G oddes s Sita, Brother laks hman and
hanuman arriving at ayodhya in P us hpak V iman
11) Stories of Santa Claus are relatively a new one in Christianity. It is believed to have
originated in the early 17th century somewhere in the northern region of North America
or Europe. Santa is typically depicted as a pot-bellied, bearded, jovial benefactor
accompanied by polar animals like Rudolph the reindeer. Similarly, Kuber is said to be
the lord of mythical animals though there is no description on how the animals look
like.
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Santa with his P olar c ompanions
Kuber Was lord of E vil s pirits
A s per the vedic texts , Kuber was originally c ons idered as the
c hief of all evil s pirits like ghos ts , demons etc . T he Shatapatha
Brahmana c alls him the L ord of thieves and c riminals .
H ow Kuber bec ame D eity of wealth and lord of northern part of
the world
A s mentioned before, he was inc luded in the deity pantheon after
his s evere penanc e and attainment of s everal boons from L ord
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Brahma. Brahma c onferred upon Kubera godhood, s tatus as a
world- protec tor, the friends hip with Shiva, the P us hpaka V imana,
a s on c alled Nalakubera/Nalakubara, and the lords hip of the
Nairrata demons . Kuber generous ly ac c epted the boons and gift
of lord Brahma inc luding Flying c hariot P us hpak V iman and
s ettled in the golden beautiful is le of lanka(P res ently s ri lanka).
N ote that kubera flying c hariot is the s ame pus hpak vimaan
whic h was us ed by lord ram to travel from lanka to ayodhya after
exec uting Ravana in s ri lanka. A fter his arrival in ayodhya, lord
rama returned this pus hpak vimaan along with other treas ures to
deity Kuber.
H ow Kuber los t his wealth and P us hpak V iman
D emon Ravana, s tep brother of Kuber was s o jealous of his
wealth that he attac ked Kuber, defeated him and s eized all his
wealth and treas ures inc luding his flying c hariot “P us hpak
vimaan”. Knowing that he c annot defeat the mighty ravana, he
went on to s ettle in the c ity of A laka in G andhamandana
mountain of the H imalayas , very near to M ount Kailas h - the
abode of lord Shiva. H is c ity is s aid to be extremely beautiful,
glorious with many mythic al and magic al divine beings . . H is c ity
is als o known as A laka- puri ("c url- c ity"), Vas udhara
("bejeweled"), Prabha("s plendour") and Vas u-s thali ("abode of
treas ures ").
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D eity kuber
A fter his fight with ravana, H e is des c ribed as having only eight
teeth, three legs , and one eye. T his deformity is s aid to have
oc c urred during his fight agains t the mighty demon ravana.
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Kuber in anc ient Sc riptures
I n the Manus mriti, he is c alled as the res pec table Loka-pala,
meaning protec tor of human beings (Semi- divine beings of the
northern world), and the patron of merc hants . Below image s hows
the Brahma with his four loka palas (South- north- eas t and wes t).
Kuber c arrying a mac e is s hown as the lord of the north at
s ec ond plac e from right. I n Mahabharata, Kubera is des c ribed as
the brother of s age vis hrava, both being s on of s age P ulas tya
and his wife I davida. N ote that the s age pulas tya is s aid to be
the divine s on of lord Brahma. T he Mahabharata s ays that Brahma
c onferred upon Kubera godhood, s tatus as a world- protec tor, the
friends hip with Shiva, the P us hpaka V imana, a s on c alled
Nalakubera/Nalakubara, and the lords hip of the Nairrata demons .
M ahabharata als o des c ribes the Kuber donation of wealth for the
c ons truc tion of the P andavas new palac e at
I ndrapras tha. A c c ording to Padma Purana, lord s hiva granted him
the kings hip of yaks has after Kuber prayed to lord Shiva for
many years . I n M ahabharata, Kuber kingdom is well glorified.
T here is the des c ription of magnific ent c ourt where
G andharvas (D ivine C eles tial beings ) and A ps aras (Fairies )
entertain Kuber. H is kingdom of A laka is s aid to be attac ked by
the P andava princ e, Bhima and onc e by s hukra, the prec eptor of
the demons . Kubera's Nairrata army is des c ribed to have
defeated king M uc ukunda, who then defeated them by the advic e
of his guru V as his hta.
D eity Kuber made tirupati the world ric hes t temple
A c c ording to the puranic s tory, Kuber c redited his treas ures and
money to the god V enkates hwara (form of god V is hnu) for his
marriage with P admavati. P leas ed by his devotion, lord
vekates hwara gave him the boon of ac quiring more wealth and
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ric hes . T his is the reas on why the devotees go to venkates hwara
temple at tirupati to donate millions of rupees in
V enkates hwara's Hundi ("D onation pot"); s o that the debt of lord
vekates hwara on lord kuber is paid bac k.
D evotees at venkates hwara temple
Some devotees go to the extent of donating all his wealth to lord
vekates hwara. T his has made the T irupati temple, the ric hes t
temple of the world and als o the ric hes t religious plac e of the
world. Rec ently, I ndian Billionaire V ijay mallya donated 3
kilograms of gold to lord venkates hwara.
Why Kuber is wors hipped
Sinc e Kuber was granted the ric hes of the world, he was
pres c ribed to be wors hipped by the ones who des ires for wealth.
I n fes tival of diwali on the day of dhanteras , devotees are
advis ed to wors hip kuber along with laks hmi, goddes s of fortune
for the attainment of wealth and pros perity. E ven on televis ion,
you will s ee a bogus advertis ement of a devic e c alled D han
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laks hmi- Kuber yantra.
L aks hmi- Kuber yantra advertis ement
A c c ording to this advertis ement, if you bring this devic e to
your home, then you will get all the worldly treas ures and
pros perity. What a joke? I f bringing a devic e brings pros perity,
then there will be no poverty in this world. I f devic e brings
pros perity, then what will be the meaning of karma and hard work
of the individual?
Kuber in Buddhis m and J ainis m
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D eity Kuber was als o adopted by Buddhis t and jain monks in
their religious s c riptures . Sc holar N agendra Kumar Singh
remarked, "E very I ndian religion has a Kuber after the H indu
prototype". I n Buddhis m, Kuber is c alled as V ais ravana or
J ambhala. I n J apanes e Buddhis m, he is c alled as Bis hamon or
Daiku ku ten and is depicted along with a mongoos e. I n T ibetan
Buddhis m, Kuber is c alled as the laughing Buddha. I n T ibet, the
mongoos e is c ons idered a s ymbol of Kuber vic tory over
N âgas-the guardians of prec ious s tones . Buddhis t V ais ravana,
s imilar to the H indu Kuber, is regarded as the lord of the north, a
Loka-pala and L ord of Y aks has . Buddhis t legends als o equate
kuber with P añc ika, whos e wife H ariti is the s ymbol of
abundanc e.
I n J ainis m, Kuber is c alled Sarvanubhuti or Sarvahna, the
attendant Y aks ha of the 1 9 th T irthankar M allinath. Similar to
Kuber, H e is depic ted with pink c omplexion, four fac es , and eight
arms .
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J ambhala, the Buddhis t Kuber
Kuber, the king of north
Kubera was honoured with many titles like "king of kings "
(Raj araj a), "king of the whole world", "giver of wealth" (Dhanada)
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and "L ord of wealth" (Dhanadhipati). H is titles are s ometimes
related to his s ubjec ts "L ord of Raks has as " (Raks has adhipati), :
"king of Y aks has " (Yaks haraj an), "king of Kinnaras "(Kinnararaj a),
"L ord of G uhyakas " (Guhyakadhipa), "king of men" (Nararaj a),
"king of animals res embling men" (Mayuraj a). H is titles like
"L ord of kings " and "bes t of kings ", in c ontras t to the god of
heaven, I ndra, led to the belief that Kubera was a man onc e.
C onc lus ion
From above, we c an s ee that the des c ription of Santa c laus e
s ounds very s imilar to the depic tion of deity Kuber. Whatever the
wes tern s c riptures s ays about Santa C laus , all of them c an be
found in I ndian s c riptures by the name of deity Kuber. I n
addition to this , I ndian s c riptures has all details about his origin,
father, mother, how he gained his wealth, how he bec ame king of
dwarfs etc . A ll this details are mis s ing in wes tern des c ription of
Santa C laus . So, it is highly pos s ible that the legend of Kuber
reac hed the wes tern s hores of the world where the name and the
as s oc iated c harac ter were modified a little to s uit their loc al
c ulture and traditions . Whatever the c as e is and no matter whom
you pray to (kuber/Santa C laus ) for gifts / money/treas ures etc ,
all of your prayers are going to the s ame Supreme pers onality of
godhead. T his onc e again jus tifies the point “G od is one, only the
name got c hanged ac ros s the c ultures .”
Wis hing you a very M erry C hris tmas and happy N ew Y ear. M ay
Kuber/Santa C laus grant you unlimited ric hes and pros perity.