Akkamahadevi, who lived more than eight hundred years ago, was an extraordinary being in several respects. She was adistinguished poet of the vacana literary tradition that is unique to Kannada; a mystic saint; a social activist and a revolutionary who broke the dominance of traditional norms to assert her freedom in all its aspects: physical, intellectual and spiritual. Her poetry is remarkable for its idiom, the richness of her imagination and the immediacy of direct personal experience. Her life, ideas and poetry acquire a universal human interest transcending the bounds of her age and region.
Dr.Gurulinga Kapse (b.1928) was a Professor at Karnataka University, Dharwar. He is a poet, folklorist, critic and a prolific writer. His writings include monographs, biographies children's literature, a travelogue, translations and more than sixteen books in different genres edited by him. Some of his publications are Madhura Chenna. Paramarthageethahagu, Pravachanagalu, Chennaveera Kanaviyara Ayda Kavithegala Anusandana, and Simpi Linganna-Appata Janapada Prathibhe. He has received several awards including Karnataka Sahithya Academy Award, Karnataka Rajyothsava Prashasthi and V K Gokak Award.
Dr. Ganesha U. H. is now settled in Mysore after retiring as an Associate Professor of English at Tunga Mahavidyalaya, Tirthahalli, affiliated to Kuvempu University. His publications include a critical work entitled U. R. Ananthamurthy and the Discourse of Modernity, and Our Canine Saga, the English translation of Smt Rajani Narahalli's Kannada novel Aatma vrittaanta.
The twelfth century of the Christian era has been a significant chapter in the history of Karnataka. It is the period in which Basavanna, a visionary of global reckoning, took birth and brought about unprecedented transformations in social and literary arenas. His achievement in the spiritual field was also distinctive. He was a radical thinker who provided a new perspective of equality, among people living at different strata of society. Though he was the leader of a particular religious sect, his ideas and practice remain a supreme ideal for the entire humanity, even today. His relentless efforts to bring about equality among classes and genders, driven by a secular vision and the objective of universal human welfare, deserve to be emulated.
Basavanna aimed at a social and spiritual transformation of the society and struggled for an economic change based on the principle of kayaka or work culture. Besides, he also carved a new path in the literary field. It is true that the vacana form of literature had originated earlier. But this form reached its pinnacle in its scope and expression through the efforts of Basavanna and his contemporaries. It is also memorable that Basavanna brought women and dalits, who had been kept away from the field until then, into the arena of creativity. From the viewpoint of Kannada literary history, the twelfth century was a unique and distinctive age because the ordinary people including women and dalits became the makers of literature for the first time during this period. It was during this period that Akkamahadevi emerged as a new and bright star. From the standpoint of her spiritual attainments, she was a great mystic woman saint. From the perspective of literature she was a great mystic poet. In fact, she was the first woman mystic poet in Kannada.
Karnataka was the land of Akkamahadevi's birth and achievements. But her earthly existence came to an end in Srishaila, a holy place in Andhra Pradesh. She reached the important stages of her life in the environs of Uduthadi, Kalyana and Srishaila. However, as with the life histories of many great personalities of our country, there are debatable points with her life story also. Who were here parents? Was she married? Had she visited Kalyan or just heard about it? Of these, the issue of her marriage is much debated. The reason for such disputations can be traced to her portraiture in Kannada poetry. The poet Harihara, who wrote verses on her, suggests that she was married but later got released from the bond of marriage, owing to a conflict between her philosophy and her married situation. Later, the poet Chamarasa, who wrote the verse Prabhulingaleele, holds the view that she avoided marriage through a clever means at the imminent moment. The later poets followed either Harihara or Chamarasa and depicted her life accordingly. Thus the issue of her marriage remained a matter of debate thereafter. And many other complex issues got simplified in course of time
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