What is "devata"

Devata \De"va*ta\, n. [Hind., fr. Skr. d?va god.] (Hind. Myth.) A deity; a divine being; a good spirit; an idol. [Written also dewata.]

n. (context Hinduism English) A kind of good spirit, similar to a guardian angel.

Deva is the Hindu term for deity; devatas ( Devanagari: देवता; Khmer: tevoda (ទេវតា); Javanese, Balinese, Sundanese, Malay and Indonesian: dewata; Batak languages: debata (Toba), dibata (Karo), naibata (Simalungun); Philippine languages: diwata), are a kind of smaller more focused devas. The term "devata" also means devas (deva in plural form or the gods). They are male and female devata. There are many kinds of devatas: vanadevatas (forest spirits, perhaps descendants of early nature-spirit cults), gramadevata (village gods), devata of river crossings, caves, mountains, and so on. In Hinduism, the devatas that guard the nine cardinal points are called Devata Lokapala ( Guardians of the Directions) or in ancient Java called Dewata Nawa Sanga (Nine guardian gods). Every human activity has its devata, its spiritual counterpart or aspect.

Hindu devatas in the Konkan region are often divided into five categories: 1. Grama devatas - or village deities, for example, Hanuman, Kalika, Amba, Bhairava. 2. Sthana devatas - or local deities, for example, those in certain places of pilgrimage like Rama in Nasik, Vithoba in Pandharpur or Krishna at Dwarka. 3. Kula devatas - or family deities, like Khanderai. 4. Ishta devatas - or Chosen deities, 5. Wastu devatas or Gruha devatas - or a class of deities that preside over the house.

Some well-known Hindu-Buddhist heavenly beings belong to the group of devatas, such as apsara or vidhyadari; heavenly maiden sent by Indra from svarga to seduce the meditating ascetics, and their male counterparts; gandharvas; the heavenly musicians. Devatas often occur in Hindu epics such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, and also some Buddhist holy scriptures. The island of Bali is nicknamed Pulau Dewata ( Indonesian: "islands of devata or island of gods"), because of its vivid Hindu culture and traditions. In Bali, there are many offerings dedicated to hyang, the guardian spirits associated with devata.

Devata is a 1978 Hindi film directed by S. Ramanathan. It stars Sanjeev Kumar and Shabana Azmi. This movie was remake of Gnana Oli with Sivaji Ganesan in the lead.

Devata is a 1964 Telugu drama and musical film produced by veteran comedian B. Padmanabham and directed by K. Hemambharadhara Rao. Mahanati Savitri portrayed dual role in this film. The story had a similar plot with a Tamil film Kaathirundha Kangal.

The soundtrack has numbers with music score provided by S. P. Kodandapani.

Devata is a 1941 Telugu drama film directed by B. N. Reddi. Huge success of this film lead to the making of more such films with the same title in 1964 by B. Padmanabham and in 1982 by D. Ramanaidu.

Devata (English: Goddess) is a 1982 Telugu film directed by K. Raghavendra Rao, and starring Sobhan Babu, Sridevi, Jaya Prada and Mohan Babu. The film about two sisters and their love triangle with lead hero. K. Raghavendra Rao remade it in Hindi as Tohfa (1984) with both Sridevi and Jaya Prada repeating their roles. The story was also similar to earlier films: 1959 Tamil film Kalyana Parisu directed by C. V. Sridhar, who also directed its Hindi remake, Nazrana (1961) starring Raj Kapoor and Vyjayanthimala.