A gramadevata () 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. Etymology The term gramadevata is derived from the Sanskrit words grāma, "village, village settlement" and devatā, "deity". Development The earliest appearance of the "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 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. 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. Legend A South Indian legend states that the gramadevatas trace their origin to the first Shakti, created by the Supreme Being. Nine forms of this Shakti, collectively designated as the