Basava Jayanthi is a holiday traditionally observed by the

Lingayats Lingayatism or Veera Saivism is a Hindu denomination based on Shaivism. Initially known as ''Veerashaivas'', since the 12th-century adherents of this faith are known as ''Lingayats''. The terms ''Lingayatism'' and '' Veerashaivism'' have been ...

of the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. It marks the birthday of

Basavanna Basaveshwara, colloquially known as Basavanna, was a 12th-century CE Indian statesman, philosopher, poet, Lingayat social reformer in the Shiva-focussed bhakti movement, and a Hindu Shaivite social reformer during the reign of the Kalyani Chalu ...

, a 12th-century poet-philosopher and the founding saint of the Lingayat tradition. The holiday is celebrated throughout

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...

, primarily in

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

and

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. Basavanna believed in a society free of the

caste system Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

, with equal opportunity for all. He founded the

Anubhava Mantapa Anubhava Mantapa, established by Basavanna in the 12th Century C.E. is located in Basavakalyan in Bidar district of Karnataka. It is the first religious parliament in the world, whose literal meaning is "experience pavilion", and was an academy of ...

, an academy which included Lingayat mystics, saints, and philosophers.

References

Culture of Karnataka Lingayatism Hindu festivals Birthdays Religious festivals in India {{karnataka-stub