Allamaprabhu | |
|---|---|
| Personal | |
| Born | Early 12th century[1] |
| Died | 12th or 13th century |
| Resting place | Mulgund near Gadag, Karnataka (gadduge) |
| Religion | Lingayat |
| Sect | Lingayat-Shaivism of Lingayat[2] |
| Known for | Lingayat/Sharana movement |
| Occupation | Mystic, Yogi, Siddha, Social reformer, philosopher, Saint, Spiritual Leader, Poet |
Wherever one steps on earth is a pilgrim place[3]
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Allamaprabhu (Kannada: ಅಲ್ಲಮಪ್ರಭು) was a 12th-century mystic-saint and Vachana poet (called Vachanakara) of the Kannada language,[4] propagating the unitary consciousness of Self and Shiva.[web 1][5] Allamaprabhu is one of the celebrated poets and the patron saint[note 1] of the Lingayata[note 2] movement that reshaped medieval Karnataka society and popular Kannada literature. He is included among the "Trinity of Lingayathism", along with Basavanna, the founder of the movement, and Akka Mahadevi, the most prominent woman poet.[7]
Allamaprabhu used poetry, now part of Vachana Sahitya literature, to criticise rituals and social conventions, to break down social barriers and to emphasize moral values and devotional worship of Shiva.[8][9] It is well accepted that though Basavanna was the inspiration behind the Lingayath movement and earned the honorific "elder brother" (anna) at the "mansion of experience" (Anubhava Mantapa), Allama was the real guru who presided over it.[6][10]
According to the scholars K. A. Nilakanta Sastri and Joseph T. Shipley, Vachana literature comprises pithy pieces of poetic prose in easy to understand, yet compelling Kannada language.[4][11] The scholar E. P. Rice characterises Vachana poems as brief parallelistic allusive poems, each ending with one of the popular local names of the god Shiva and preaching the common folk detachment from worldly pleasures and adherence to devotion to the god Shiva (Shiva Bhakti).[12]
- ^ VK Subramanian (2007), 101 Mystics of India, Abhinav, ISBN 978-8170174714, page 71
- ^ Basava: Hindu religious leader, Encyclopædia Britannica (2013)
- ^ Ramanujan 1996, p. 185.
- ^ a b Shipley 2007, p. 527.
- ^ Patton Burchett (Editor: Knut Jacobsen, 2011), Yoga Powers, Brill Academic, ISBN 978-9004212145, page 370
- ^ a b Subramanian 2005, p. 213.
- ^ Subramanian 2005, p. 16.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
movementwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
ritualwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Ramanujan 1973, pp. 144–145.
- ^ Sastri 1955, p. 361.
- ^ Rice E.P. in Sastri 1955, p. 361
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