Lingayat Vani | |
---|---|
Jāti | Marathi |
Classification | Forward caste[1] |
Guru | Jangam |
Religions | Hinduism |
Languages | Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Telugu[2] |
Country | India, |
Region | Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh |
Ethnicity | Indian |
Population | 8.5 to 10 Million in Maharashtra[3] |
Heraldic title | Appa, Rao, Desai [4][5] |
Related groups | Veerashaiva Marathas |
The Lingayat Vani community (marathi: लिंगायत वाणी) is an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are native to Maharashtra in western India. They belong to Veershaiv sect of Hindu Shaivism and are also referred to as Veershaiv-Lingayat Vanik or Lingayat Balija or Vira Banajiga or Bir Vanigas. The name Vani is derived from the Sanskrit word 'Vanijya' which means trade.
The Vira Banajigas were a trading caste.
They rejected the custodial hold of Brahmins over Vedas and shastras but did not outright reject the Vedic knowledge. They worship all gods and believe them to be a form of Shiva only.[6][7] The 13th-century Telugu Virashaiva poet Palkuriki Somanatha, the author of the scripture of Lingayatism, for example asserted, "Virashaivism fully conformed to the Vedas and the shastras."[8][9]