Lingayat

The Lingayat sect of South India

The lingayat sect is one of the most ancient and celebrated cults of South India based on the faith and worship of Shiva in the form of Lingam. The lingayat sect is also well known as “VeeraShaivism” with its distinct Shaivite tradition. The founder of the lingayat sect was “Basavanna” - a social reformer and a great philosopher during the 12th century. The lingayat sect distinguishes itself from the mainstream Shaivite tradition in Hinduism propounding monotheism (belief in One God) and worshipping Lord Shiva in the form of a “Lingam”. The followers of this sect were also called “Veera Shaivas” or Lingayats or Lingawants, who were quite hostile towards orthodox Brahmins and rejected the authority of Vedas.

The believers of the lingayat sect were in a physical outward sense were different from ordinary Shaivites by their practices of carrying on their bodies a miniature lingam usually encased in a silver box that was suspended from their necks or hanging on their arms or around their waists. The lingayats were brave, fierce and strict shivaites and called themselves “the champions of Shaiva faith”. The lingayat community consisted or comprised of a large number of castes and tribes that also included Brahmins and other underprivileged sections of the then Hindu society.

The main occupation of the lingayat sect was trade and commerce and the contemporary lingayatism is a rich blend of progressive reform based theology propounded by its founder “Basavanna”. The lingayat sect was in the 12th century one of the most powerful, influential branches of Shaivism in South India that spread from the present state of Karnataka to Maharashtra and then to other parts of India. The lingayat sect was embedded to the principles of human spirit and democratic outlook with its founder’s (Basavanna) belief that the religious life of the people is closely allied to other social welfare activities.

Its total denial of Brahmin supremacy and...