News:The Prime minister has greeted the people on the occasion of Basava Jayanthi,the Birth anniversary of Lord Basaveshwara.
Facts:
- Basavanna was a 12th-century philosopher, founding saint of the Lingayat sect, Kannada poet and social reformer during the reign of the Kalachuri-dynasty king Bijjala I in Karnataka.
Contributions:
- He rejected gender or social discrimination, superstitions and rituals by advocating that every human being was equal, irrespective of caste and that all forms of manual labor was equally important.
- Anubhava Mantapa(hall of spiritual experience):It was a public institution founded by Basavana to welcome men and women from all socio-economic backgrounds to discuss spiritual and mundane questions of life in open.
- Literary works: He spread social awareness through poetry(Vachanas) such as Shat-sthala-vachana (discourses of the six stages of salvation), Kala-jnana-vachana (forecasts of the future) and Mantra-gopya.
- He is known for introducing the Ishtalinga (a necklace with a pendant that contains a small Shiva Linga).
Recognition:
- He was the first Kannadiga in whose honour a commemorative coin has been minted in recognition of his social reforms.
- In 2015, Indian Prime Minister inaugurated his statue along the bank of the river Thames at Lambeth,London.
