Basaveshwara: Early Life, Contributions & Legacy

• Context (PIB | TH): Vachana Mantapa project announced in Kalaburagi on Basava Jayanti 2025.

About Basaveshwara

• Also known as Bhakti bhandari (treasurer of devotion), Basavesvara was an Indian philosopher, poet, and social reformer.
• Birth and Early Life: Born in 1131 AD in Bagevadi (now in Karnataka).
• Served as Karanika (Accountant) & later as Prime Minister in the court of Kalachuri king Bijjala at Kalyana.
• Opposed caste discrimination & gender bias; initiated inclusive reforms ensuring dignity to all.
• Institutional Founder of Lingayatism: Laid the doctrinal foundation for Lingayatism as a distinct socio-religious system rooted in ethical living.
• His followers were known as Virashaivas (heroes of Shiva) or Lingayats wearers of the linga).
  • They were also against all forms of ritual and idol worship.
  • They also questioned the theory of rebirth. The Lingayats also encouraged certain practices disapproved in the Dharmashastras, such as post-puberty marriage and the remarriage of widows. These won them followers amongst those who were marginalised within the Brahmanical social order.
  • Lingayats worship Shiva in his manifestation as a linga, and men usually wear a small linga in a silver case on a loop strung over the left shoulder.
  • Those who are revered include the jangama or wandering monks.
  • Lingayats believe that on death the devotee will be united with Shiva and will not return to this world.
  • Therefore they do not practise funerary rites such as cremation, prescribed in the Dharmashastras. Instead, they ceremonially bury their dead.
• Death: Believed to have attained spiritual samadhi in Kudalasangama (in present-day Bagalkot district).

Contributions of Basavanna (Basavesvara)

• Lingangayoga (Spiritual Framework): Holistic spiritual discipline, based on the principles of Arivu (true knowledge), Achara (right conduct), and Anubhava (divine experience), combining Bhakti (devotion), Jnana (knowledge) and Kriye (righteous action) for spiritual union with the divine.
  • Ishta Linga Worship: Spiritual equality symbolised through personal worship (not mandatory). Welcomed all, including those without Ishta Linga; advocated inclusivity over orthodoxy.
• Democratisation of Religion: Removed priestly intermediaries, making spiritual pursuit a personal and direct experience.
  • Resisted elaborate rituals, animal sacrifice and temple-centric religion in favor of inner purity & ethics.
• Establishment of Kalyana Rajya (Welfare State): Advocated equal rights and responsibilities for all, regardless of caste, class or gender.
  • Anubhava Mantapa: Established in Kalyana as world’s first socio-spiritual Parliament, where Sharanas (enlightened seekers) of all castes could have an open dialogue on democratic, spiritual & social values.
  • Kayaka (Divine Work): Emphasised sincere work as worship, irrespective of caste-based occupations.
  • Dasoha (Equal Distribution): Promoted economic equity; surplus earnings must be shared with the poor and society.
  • Emphasis on Rationalism and Humanism: Encouraged questioning of blind faith; upheld compassion, reason, and human dignity as spiritual virtues.
  • Promotion of Inter-Caste Harmony: Encouraged inter-caste marriages, labor dignity and collective spiritual growth.
  • Women’s Empowerment: Actively supported the spiritual and social leadership of women like Akka Mahadevi and other female Sharanas.
• Vachana Literature: Created a revolutionary literary movement; composed in simple Kannada, the Vachanas were direct, poetic, and reformist expressions of social and spiritual ideals.
  • Basava literary works include the Vachana Sahitya in Kannada Language.

Legacy

• Influence Beyond Lingayatism: Inspired Buddha-Basava-Ambedkar ideology adopted by social reformers and movements across Karnataka.
• Basaveshwara’s ideals of equality, non-discrimination and work-based dignity have been acknowledged internationally; a statue of Basaveshwara stands in London as a symbol of universal human values.
• Hagiography: A full account of Basava’s life and ideas are narrated in a 13^th century sacred Telugu text, the Basava Purana by Palkuriki Somanatha.