The Akka Mahadevi: The Saint- Poet

Abstract

The Virashaiva Movement in the twelfth century Karnata.ka is essentially a bhakti movement, of which we may see different expressions at different stages in the spiritual history of India. Bhakti is central to the heritage of India and is its essential ethos. The unique phenomena of the Bhakti tradition appear to have begun in South India, in Tamil Nadu even before the seventh century with the Avars and the Nayanmars and later the movement spread to other parts of the country.