250px|thumb|A [[murti of Akka Mahadevi consecrated in temple at her birthplace, Davangere]]

250px|thumb|right|A popular vachana (poem) composed by Akka Mahadevi

Akka Mahadevi (c. 1130–1160) was an early poet of Kannada literature and a prominent member of the Lingayatism denomination of Hinduism founded in the 12th century. Her 430 vachanas (a form of spontaneous mystical poems), and the two short writings called Mantrogopya and the Yogangatrividh are considered her known contributions to Kannada literature. The term Akka ("elder sister" or "mother") was an honorific given to her by saints such as Basavanna, Siddharama, and Allamaprabhu as an indication of her high place in the spiritual discussions held at the "Anubhava Mantapa". She is regarded to be a major female figure in Kannada literature and in the history of Karnataka. She considered the god Shiva ("Chenna Mallikarjuna") as her husband (traditionally understood as the 'madhura bhava' or 'madhurya' form of devotion).

Biography

Akka Mahadevi was born in Udutadi, near Shivamogga in the Indian state of the Karnataka around 1130. Some scholars suggest that she was born to a couple named Nirmalshetti and Sumati, who were both devotees of Shiva. Western sources claim that little is known about her life, though it has been the subject of Indian hagiographic, folk and mythological claims, based on oral tradition and her own lyrics. One of her lyrics, for instance, appears to record her experiences of leaving her place of her birth and family in order to pursue Shiva. They include a reference to one of her poems, or vachanas, in which she lays down three conditions for marrying the king, including control over the choice to spend her time in devotion or in conversation with other scholars and religious figures, rather than with the king. It is likely that she visited the town of Kalyana en route, where she met two other poets and prominent figures of the Lingayat movement, Allama and Basava. In Akka Mahadevi's case, she uses the name Chennamallikarjuna to refer to the god Shiva. Her works frequently use the metaphor of an illicit, or adulterous love to describe her devotion to Chennamallikarjuna (Shiva). Her works challenge common understandings of sexual identity; for instance, in one vachana she suggests that creation, or the power of the god Shiva, is masculine, while all of creation, including men, represent the feminine: "I saw the haughty master, Mallikarjuna/for whom men, all men, are but women, wives".

Translations and legacy

A. K. Ramanujan first popularised the vachanas by translating them into a collection called Speaking of Siva. Postcolonial scholar Tejaswini Niranjana criticised these translations as rendering the vachanas into modern universalist poetry ready-to-consume by the West in Siting Translation (1992). Kannada translator Vanamala Vishwanatha is currently working on a new English translation, which may be published as part of the Murty Classical Library.

Akka Mahadevi continues to occupy a significant place in culture and memory, with roads and universities named after her. In 2010, a bas relief dating to the 13th century was discovered near Hospet in Karnataka, and is believed to be a depiction of Akka Mahadevi.

See also

  • Haralayya
  • Kuvempu

References

  • "Songs of Shiva Akka Mahadevi" translated by Vinaya Chaitanya