Basava

Basava, also known as Basavanna or Basaveshwara, was a 12th-century philosopher, poet, reformer, and statesman from present-day Karnataka, India. He served as a minister in the court of King Bijjala II of the Kalachuri dynasty at Kalyana (Basavakalyana). Around the 1160s, he left court life to promote social and religious reforms through the Lingayat (Veerashaiva) movement.

Basava founded the Anubhava Mantapa in Basavakalyana, a transregional philosophical and spiritual forum where saints, poets, and scholars discussed theology, ethics, and social concerns. He and his followers produced a body of vernacular poetry known as vachanas, short devotional and didactic verses in Kannada that advocated direct devotion to Shiva, ethical living, and social equality.

A central tenet of Basava’s teaching was rejection of caste-based privilege and ritual sacerdotal authority. He promoted personal devotion to Shiva through the ishtalinga, a symbol worn on the body, and emphasized the dignity of labor, education, and compassionate conduct. Basava’s ideas also influenced a broad circle of contemporaries, including Allama Prabhu, Akka Mahadevi, and Channabasavanna, who helped spread the movement beyond his own city.

The Lingayat or Veerashaiva tradition, which grew from Basava’s reforms, remains a major religious and cultural current in Karnataka. Basava is remembered as a key figure in medieval Indian Bhakti and social reform movements. Basava Jayanti is observed to commemorate his life and teachings.