View source for Gramadevata

{{Short description|Village deities in Hinduism}}
[[File:Sri Renuka Parameshwari Urchavam.JPG|thumb|[[Renuka|Ellamman]], the gramadevata of the village of [[Nathanallur]]]]
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}

A '''gramadevata''' ({{Langx|sa|ग्रामदेवता|lit=village deity|translit=Grāmadevatā}}) is the [[tutelary deity]] of a given locality in [[Hinduism]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Iyengar |first=T. R. R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MmURAQAAIAAJ&q=gramadevata+hindu |title=Hindu Mythology |date=2004 |publisher=Intellectual Book Corner |isbn=978-81-7076-104-4 |pages=385 |language=en}}</ref> primarily worshipped in the villages of [[India]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chandra |first=Suresh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mfTE6kpz6XEC&dq=gramadevata+cursed&pg=PA111 |title=Encyclopaedia of Hindu Gods and Goddesses |date=1998 |publisher=Sarup & Sons |isbn=978-81-7625-039-9 |pages=111 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Becchio |first1=Bruno |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XRkfKdho-5cC&dq=gramadevata+folk+religion&pg=PA112-IA215 |title=Encyclopedia of World Religions |last2=Schadé |first2=Johannes P. |date=2006 |publisher=Foreign Media Group |isbn=978-1-60136-000-7 |pages=112 |language=en}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Leviton |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I9W4Hlx4_VEC&dq=gramadevata+protector+fertility&pg=PT555 |title=Encyclopedia of Earth Myths: An Insider's A-Z Guide to Mythic People, Places, Objects, and Events Central to the Earth's Visionary Geography |date=2005-10-14 |publisher=Hampton Roads Publishing |isbn=978-1-61283-298-2 |pages=555 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Atran |first=Scott |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P1vrgpf8I14C&dq=gramadevata+dravidian&pg=PA125 |title=In Gods We Trust: The Evolutionary Landscape of Religion |date=2004-12-09 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-803405-6 |pages=125 |language=en}}</ref> A gramadevata is typically female in [[South India]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Oppy |first=Graham |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XXdKCAAAQBAJ&dq=gramadevata+folk+religion&pg=PA128 |title=The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Philosophy of Religion |date=2015-04-17 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-51592-0 |pages=128 |language=en}}</ref>  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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Flueckiger |first=Joyce Burkhalter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=44MTBwAAQBAJ&dq=gramadevata+village+boundaries&pg=PA30 |title=Everyday Hinduism |date=2015-02-23 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-118-52818-1 |pages=30 |language=en}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
The term gramadevata is derived from the Sanskrit words grāma, "village, village settlement" and devatā, "deity".<ref name="FULL">{{cite journal |last1=Fuller |first1=C. J. |date=March 1988 |title=The Hindu Pantheon and the Legitimation of Hierarchy |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2803031 |journal=Man |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=22–39 |doi=10.2307/2803031 |jstor=2803031 |access-date=5 March 2021|url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{Hinduism small}}

== Development ==
The earliest appearance of the "[[Mother goddess|Mother Goddess]]" found in [[South Asia]] is in [[Mehrgarh]] in the form of female [[terracotta]] figurines dating to the [[4th millennium BCE]]. These figurines are believed to represent the "Mother Goddess." Similar female figurines are found in 3rd-2nd millennium figures from [[Harappan civilization]] sites, including a woman with a plant emerging from her womb and a woman in a tree (believed to be a goddess) being worshipped by another woman, with seven figures below. Due to their association with agriculture, the idea of the earth spirit of ''bhumi'' is still a common association with villages today just as it was in Harappan times. Evidence of continued veneration of a female village deity comes from a terracotta fragment Chandraketugarh from what is now eastern West Bengal dating to the [[1st century BCE]]. The plaque shows a figure holding a parasol, evidently a goddess, being worshipped with earthen pots, fruits, flowers and other offerings similar to those given to modern-day village goddesses. Another group of common iconography related to gramadevatas are the ''[[Saptamatrika|sapta matrika]]'', the "seven mothers." The first mention of these goddesses occurs in the later layers of the [[Mahabharata]] dating to the 1st century CE, and their lack of mention in [[the Vedas]] indicates a non-Vedic origin for these goddesses.<ref name="ELGO" /> In addition to the fertility goddesses, the various disease goddesses include deities described with unappealing physical characteristics like [[Mariamman]] and Mata. These goddesses could be represented in the Harappan period by a goddess with weapons in her hair. Similarly, goddesses absorbed into [[Puranic Hinduism]], like [[Durga]], appear around the 1st century BCE–1st century CE.<ref name="ELGO">{{Cite journal |last=Elgood |first=Heather |date=2004-09-01 |title=Exploring the roots of village Hinduism in South Asia |journal=World Archaeology|volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=326–342 |doi=10.1080/0043824042000282777 |s2cid=144268377 |issn=0043-8243}}</ref>

== Legend ==
A South Indian legend states that the gramadevatas trace their origin to the first [[Shakti]], created by the [[Brahman|Supreme Being]]. Nine forms of this Shakti, collectively designated as the Navashakti, were created. Due to their arrogance, they were banished from [[Svarga|heaven]] to the earth, where they were assigned the task of protecting mankind from evil and malicious forces. Thus, the gramadevatas are honoured for their duty through festivals and temples dedicated to their worship.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Garrett |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6paBoEtkUt0C&dq=gramadevata+banished&pg=PA540 |title=A Classical Dictionary of India |year=1971 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Distri |pages=540 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sharma |first=Arvind |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gDmUToaeMJ0C&dq=gramadevata+hinduism&pg=PA65 |title=Classical Hindu Thought: An Introduction |date=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-564441-8 |pages=65 |language=en}}</ref> 

== Veneration ==
Gramadevatas are believed to serve as the protectors of fields and the general countryside, preventing plagues, famines, pestilence, war, as well as natural disasters. They are also venerated to honour their task of guarding villagers from evil.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jeyaraj |first=Daniel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=loF_AgAAQBAJ&dq=male+gramadevata&pg=PA114 |title=Genealogy of the South Indian Deities: An English Translation of Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg's Original German Manuscript with a Textual Analysis and Glossary |date=2004-09-23 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-28703-1 |pages=114 |language=en}}</ref> These deities, predominantly goddesses, possess both benevolent and malevolent features, to mark their roles as gentle to supplicants, and also fierce to wrongdoers. They are associated with agriculture, harvests, rain, and are regarded to be embodiments of fertility. These deities are often venerated in the open fields, or in the form of shrines. Most of them are not accompanied by a male consort. Their shrines could sometimes be composed of a pile of stones or a flag. While some of these shrines are maintained and served by priests, others merely have a keeper who is not accorded a special status. Gramadevatas often share common suffixes in their names, such as ''amman'' or ''amma'', the [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]] root word for mother, or ''ai''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=J.N.K |first=Mugambi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cx8ACQAAQBAJ&dq=gramadevata+dravidian&pg=PA71 |title=A Comparative Study of Religions: Second Edition |date=2015-03-16 |publisher=University of Nairobi Press |isbn=978-9966-846-89-1 |pages=71 |language=en}}</ref> Animal sacrifices and blood are often served as offerings to placate these goddesses by their devotees, including chickens, goats, and occasionally buffaloes, traditionally requiring them to be male.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Elgood |first=Heather |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tAcF8RgbtZ0C&dq=gramadevata+fertility+guardian&pg=PA68 |title=Hinduism and the Religious Arts |date=2000-04-01 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-8264-9865-6 |pages=68 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Blurton |first=T. Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xJ-lzU_nj_MC&dq=gramadevata+guardian+fertility&pg=PA181 |title=Hindu Art |date=1993 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-39189-5 |pages=181 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Syncretism ===
While various gramadevatas possess discrete worlds and forms of worship from mainstream Hinduism, others have been syncretised as members of the greater pantheon of [[Hindu deities]]. For instance, the deity [[Venkateswara|Venkateshvara]], a form of [[Vishnu]], is regarded by local adherents to be the brother of Gangamma, a gramadevata. Mainstream Hindu deities and gramadevatas are often ritually worshipped together due to their integrated traditions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Flueckiger |first=Joyce Burkhalter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=44MTBwAAQBAJ&dq=gramadevata+hinduism&pg=PA34 |title=Everyday Hinduism |date=2015-02-23 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-118-52818-1 |pages=34 |language=en}}</ref> Due to the prevalence of [[Vaishnavism]] and [[Shaivism]], it is common to find representations of male gramadevatas as forms of [[Vishnu]] and [[Shiva]],<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Coulter |first1=Charles Russell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QEJUEAAAQBAJ&dq=gramadevata+vishnu&pg=PA196 |title=Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities |last2=Turner |first2=Patricia |date=2021-12-06 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-9179-7 |pages=196 |language=en}}</ref> and female gramadevatas as forms of [[Lakshmi]] and [[Parvati]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kelly |first=Frank Bolger |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=85QWBv-PlpcC&dq=gramadevata+vishnu+shiva&pg=PA647 |title=Scoffing at Scripture: A Commoner Reads the World's Holy Writ and Rejects Traditional Religion |date=February 2011 |publisher=Dog Ear Publishing |isbn=978-1-60844-808-1 |pages=647 |language=en}}</ref> Few gramadevatas, such as [[Ganesha]], have been completely adopted into [[Puranas|Puranic]] Hinduism.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jain |first=Sandhya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NDBlEAAAQBAJ&dq=gramadevata+parvati&pg=PT138 |title=Adi Deo Arya Devata: A Panoramic View oF Tribal-Hindu Cultural Interface |date=2022-03-19 |publisher=Notion Press |isbn=979-8-88530-378-1 |pages=138 |language=en}}</ref>

== Examples ==
[[File:Arulmigu_Sri_Angala_Easwari_Muneeswarar_Aalayam.jpg|thumb|Statue of [[Muneeswarar|Munishvarar]], a male gramadevata]]
* [[Angala Devi|Ankalamman]]
* [[Mariamman]]
* [[Dharmathakur]]
* [[Renuka|Ellamman]]
* [[Bhadrakali]]
* [[Pidari|Pitari]]
* [[Siparia#La Divina Pastora (Siparia Mai)|Siparia Mai]]
* [[Dharmathakur]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dharma-Thakur {{!}} Indian deity |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Dharma-Thakur |access-date=2020-02-14 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> 
* [[Bhairava|Kala Bhairava]]<ref>{{cite book |author=Syed Siraj Ul Hassan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lYSd-3yL9h0C&dq=Kal+Bhairav&pg=PA482 |title=The Castes and Tribes of H.E.H. the Nizam's Dominions, Vol. 1 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |year=1920 |isbn=8120604881 |page=482}}</ref>
* [[Punjabi folk religion#Jathera—ancestral shrines|Jathera]]
* [[Kasba Ganapati]]
* [[Maisamma]]
* [[Poleramma]]

==Gallery==
{{Gallery
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|File:Mariamman temple festival.jpg
 | alt1=
 |Mariamman in a temple festival procession
|File:Chamunda (Madhya Pradesh - XIe siècle).jpg
 | alt2=
 |Sculpture of Chamunda
| File:Sri Bhadrakali Amman Temple 01.jpg
 | alt3=
 |Bhadrakali Amman
|Ayyanar consorts.JPG
 | alt4=
 |Ayyanar, a guardian kuladevata, accompanied by two consorts
|Godess_Muthyalamma_at_Gudilova.jpg
 | alt5=
 |The goddess Muthyalamma, the kuladevata of Gudilova
}}

== References ==
<references />

{{HinduMythology}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gramadevata}}
[[Category:Tutelary deities]]
[[Category:Hindu deities]]