Basava

c. 1131 – c. 1167

Basava (also Basavanna, c. 1131 - c. 1167) was a 12th-century Kannada poet, philosopher, and social reformer who served as a minister at the court of the Kalachuri king Bijjala II in Kalyana. Through his vachana poetry and the Anubhava Mantapa assembly he promoted devotion to Shiva, rejected caste discrimination and ritualism, and became the guiding figure of the Lingayat (Virashaiva) tradition.

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Life events

Born in Basavana Bagewadi in northern Karnataka
c. 1131

Basava was born around 1131 into a Kannada Shaiva Brahmin family in the town of Bagewadi.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Birth ✓
Studied scriptures at Kudalasangama
c. 1143

Tradition holds that Basava spent his youth in study and devotion at Kudalasangama, at the confluence of the Krishna and Malaprabha rivers.

Education ?
Entered service at the court of the Kalachuri king Bijjala II
c. 1154

Basava began work as an accountant at Bijjala II's court at Mangalavede and rose in royal administration.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Established the Anubhava Mantapa, a hall of spiritual experience open to all
c. 1160

Basava founded an assembly where men and women of all castes debated spiritual and social questions, a pioneering institution of public religious discourse.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Composed vachana poetry in Kannada
c. 1160

Basava's short devotional vachanas, addressed to Shiva as Kudalasangamadeva, spread bhakti spirituality in the vernacular and rejected caste hierarchy and empty ritual.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Became chief minister and treasurer of Bijjala II at Kalyana
c. 1162

When Bijjala II established his capital at Kalyana, Basava served as his prime minister and treasurer, gaining the influence to promote his reform movement.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Conflict at Kalyana over an inter-caste marriage among his followers
c. 1167

Tradition recounts that a marriage between children of a Brahmin and a cobbler among Basava's followers provoked a violent backlash and a rupture with King Bijjala II.

Other ?
Left Kalyana and returned to Kudalasangama
c. 1167

Amid the turmoil at Kalyana, Basava withdrew from court and returned to Kudalasangama.

Relocation ?
Died at Kudalasangama
c. 1167

Basava died around 1167 at Kudalasangama, where his samadhi shrine remains a major Lingayat pilgrimage site.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Death ✓