Dr Poojya Maate Mahadevi MA,

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

(13 March 1946 – 14 March 2019) was an Indian Spiritual leader, scholar, mystic, writer and first female ''Jagadguru'', spiritual head of the Indian Lingayat community.

Early life

Following initiation in 1965 by Lingananda Swami, Maate Mahadevi began writing '' vachanas'', a form of didactic poetry. In 1966 she received her

Jangama The Jangam or Jangamaru (ಜಂಗಮರು) are a Shaiva order of religious monks. They are the priests or gurus of the Hindu Shaiva sect. Jangamas are also gurus of Veerashaiva' sect Jangamas are disciples of Lord Shiva as mentioned in Bas ...

initiation as an

ascetic Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...

in the Lingayat order of wandering mendicants. In 1970 she was installed as a ''jagadguru'' in the Lingayat community, the first time a woman had been placed in that position. She held the 12th century woman poet Akka Mahadevi, who also wrote ''vachanas'', as her role model.Lingayathism website
By 1983 she had published twenty books and started an educational and religious institution called Jaganmata Akka Mahadevi Ashrama in Dharwad, Karnataka, whose focus is education and spiritual upliftment of girls and women. Among her many books is ''Basava Tatva Darshana'', on the life and teachings of Basava, a 12th-century social reformer and philosopher who fought against the caste system.

References

Lingayatism 1946 births 2019 deaths 20th-century Hindu religious leaders 21st-century Hindu religious leaders 20th-century Hindu philosophers and theologians 21st-century Hindu philosophers and theologians 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century Indian poets Indian women religious leaders Indian religious writers Indian theologians Writers from Karnataka People from Dharwad Poets from Karnataka Women writers from Karnataka Scholars from Karnataka Women educators from Karnataka Educators from Karnataka {{India-reli-bio-stub