Mahadeviyakka

(12th c.) Poet-saint and religious leader
in the Lingayat religious community,
a bhakti (devotional) community centered on both the worship of Shiva
as the single supreme god and on the
rejection of all caste regulations. The
Lingayats were formed in the southern
Indian state of Karnataka, where they
still have a considerable presence. The
collections of poetry that form their
most important religious texts are composed in the Kannada language.
Mahadeviyakka was a contemporary of
Basavanna and Allama Prabhu; her status in the community is marked by the
suffix akka (“elder sister”). According to
tradition, she was devoted to Shiva at a
very young age and considered him to
be her true husband. This caused great
problems during a brief, unhappy marriage, a mismatch between a carnally
inclined man and a woman who would
have no human lover. She eventually left
her husband, wandering naked as a sign
that she had cast away all attachments.
She later became associated with the
Lingayats, known as the “Lord’s men.”
The theme running through most of her
poetry is love for Shiva, sometimes as
her husband and sometimes as her
adulterous lover, both portraying her
struggles with the world. For further
information see A. K. Ramanujan,
Speaking of Shiva, 1973.