Dr Poojya Maate Mahadevi MA,

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

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

Lingayat The Lingayats are a monotheistic religious denomination of Hinduism. Lingayats are also known as , , , . Lingayats are known for their unique practice of Ishtalinga worship, where adherents carry a personal linga symbolizing a constant, intim ...

community.

Early life

Following initiation in 1965 by Lingananda Swami, Maate Mahadevi began writing ''

vachanas Vachana sahitya is a form of rhythmic writing in Kannada (see also Kannada poetry) that evolved in the 11th century and flourished in the 12th century, as a part of the Sharana movement. The word "vachanas" literally means "(that which is) sa ...

'', a form of didactic poetry. In 1966 she received her

Jangama The ''Jangam'' (Kannada script, Kannada; ''ಜಂಗಮರು'') or Janga''muru or veerashaiva Jangam'' a Shaivism, Shaiva order of religious monks. They are the priests (Gurus) of the Shaivism, Hindu Shaiva sect, Gurus of Veerashaiva sect a ...

initiation as an

ascetic Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty, and simple living, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their pra ...

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 Akka Mahadevi (c. 1130–1160) was an early poet of Kannada literature and a prominent member of the Lingayatism founded in the 2011 . Her 430 '' vachanas'' (a form of spontaneous mystical poems), and the two short writings called ''Mantrogopya ...

, 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 Dharwad (), also known as Dharwar, is a city located in the northwestern part of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of the Dharwad district of Karnataka and forms a contiguous urban area with the city of Hubballi. It was merged ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

, 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 Basava (1131–1196), also called and , was an Indian philosopher, poet, Lingayat social reformer in the Shiva-focused bhakti movement, and a Hindu Shaivite social reformer during the reign of the Kalyani Chalukya and the Kalachuri dynas ...

, a 12th-century social reformer and philosopher who fought against the caste system.

Filmography

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 21st-century Indian theologians 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century Indian poets Indian women religious leaders Indian religious writers 20th-century 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