History · Ch 6 — Bhakti–Sufi Traditions — Changes in Religious Beliefs and Devotional Texts
The Virashaiva Tradition in Karnataka
The Virashaiva Tradition in Karnataka
The Virashaiva movement emerged in twelfth-century Karnataka, led by Basavanna (1106–68), a Brahmana who served as a minister in the court of a Kalachuri ruler. His followers were called Virashaivas (heroes of Shiva) or Lingayats (wearers of the linga). The community remains important in the region today.
Lingayats worship Shiva in his form as a linga. Men typically wear a small linga in a silver case on a loop strung over the left shoulder. Revered figures include the jangama, or wandering monks.
A central belief is that on death, the devotee will be united with Shiva and will not return to this world. Because of this, Lingayats do not practise the funerary rites prescribed in the Dharmashastras, such as cremation. Instead, they ceremonially bury their dead.
The movement challenged the idea of caste and the notion of “pollution” attributed to certain groups by Brahmanas. It also questioned the theory of rebirth. These stances won followers among those who were marginalised within the Brahmanical social order.
Lingayats encouraged certain practices that the Dharmashastras disapproved of, including post-puberty marriage and the remarriage of widows.
Our understanding of the Virashaiva tradition comes from vachanas (literally, sayings) composed in Kannada by both women and men who joined the movement. …
Source 4 — Rituals and the real world. A vachana composed by Basavanna, the founder of the Virashaiva (Lingayat) movement:
When they see a serpent carved in stone they pour milk on it. / If a real serpent comes they say: “Kill. Kill.” / To the servant of the god who could eat if served they say: “Go away! Go away!” / But to the image of the god which cannot eat they offer dishes of food. …