Gramadevata

A gramadevata (Sanskrit: ग्रामदेवता, romanized: Grāmadevatā, lit. 'village deity') is the tutelary deity of a given locality in Hinduism, primarily worshipped in the villages of India.

Of diverse origins, gramadevatas are regarded to protect the inhabitants of their villages from bandits, epidemics, and natural disasters when propitiated, failing which they are believed to cause these afflictions. A gramadevata is typically female in South India. In this region, a village goddess, acting as a fertility figure, is enshrined, and a guardian of the village is situated at the village boundary.