"cherished divinity" from iṣṭa, "personal, liked, cherished, preferred" and devatā, "godhead, divinity, tutelary deity" or deva, "deity"), is a term used in Hinduism denoting a worshipper's favourite deity.
It is especially significant to both the Smarta and Bhakti schools, wherein practitioners choose to worship the form of God that inspires them
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wiki/Gramadevata 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