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If sparks fly I shall think my thirst and anger
quelled. If the skies tear down I shall think them pouring down for
my bath If a hillside slide on me I shall think it flower for my hair
Lord, white as jasmine, If my head falls from my shoulder I shall
think it your offering.
Yatra jivaha, tatra
Sivaha (Where there is life there is Siva)
In the state of Karnataka
there is a small community numbering about seven million people who
are known as Lingayats. They are also called followers of
Virasaivism. Virasaivism is a form of Siva worship. Virasaivites
describe their religion as “revived, regenerated and
revolutionary Saivism.” The term Virasaiva means “militant,
heroic follower of Siva.” They also call themselves Lingayats
because they wear the Linga, the emblem and symbol of Lord Siva, on
their person. They protested against the caste system and aimed at
the creation of an egalitarian and casteless society.
Even though the community
is small in number, in religious, philosophical and cultural
significance, they are quite a force to reckon with. It was
somewhere in 1160 AD that Lingayatism originated as a result of the
activities of scholar saint Basavanna. Basavanna worshipped Siva in
the form of the Lord of the Meeting Rivers, Kadalasangamadeva. The
story goes that Bsaavanna went to the place where rivers Krishna and
Malaprabha meet. At that place stands the temple of Siva
Sangemswara. (Sangameswara also means the Lord of the Meeting
Rivers). Here Lord Siva Himself is believed to have appeared before
the devotee and blessed him.
A mythological story is
more interesting. Shiva, it is said woke one fine morning to get the
news that few people on earth worshipping him. So immediately he
dispatched his mount, Nandi, the bull. Nandi was born as Basavannna.
There were many saints
after him and he as well as the others wrote as whole corpus of
literature in Kannada known as vacanas. Over 450 vacana writers are
known to date, the most popular and influential remaining Basavanna,
with others like Dasimaya, Allama and Mahadeviyakka coming a close
second. The most intense and significant poetry was a span of two
centuries between the tenth and twelfth.
The Lingayats are
entrenched in the Pashupata tenets which believes Siva is everything,
the beginning and the end. The sect strongly believes in gurus or
teachers and the original teachers trace their descent from
Panchamukha Siva.
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