LINGAYATS
- ART AND CULTURE
News:
Karnataka reclassifies
Vokkaligas, Lingayats to raise their OBC quota share
What's
in the news?
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The Karnataka Cabinet decided to
categorise the two dominant communities in the state, Vokkaligas and Lingayats,
as “moderately backward” from the “backward” category in a move that could
increase their share in reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC).
Who
are Lingayats?
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Lingayats are the followers of the 12th-century social reformer-philosopher poet, Basaveshwara.
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The Lingayats are strict monotheists. They enjoin the worship of only one God, namely, Linga (Shiva).
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The word ‘Linga’ does not mean Linga
established in temples, but universal
consciousness qualified by the universal energy (Shakti).
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They are spread across Karnataka,
Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and other States.
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The Lingayat scientific and progressive as they were differ from Hindu religion
by not believing in birth-based caste system and superstition.
●
They criticized
Vedic rituals, describing them as an attempt to manage and manipulate
Shiva’s creation.
Basavanna:
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Basavanna was a 12th-century philosopher,
statesman, Kannada poet and a social reformer during the reign of the Kalachuri-dynasty King Bijjala I in Karnataka, India.
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Basavanna spread social awareness through
his poetry, popularly known as Vachanaas.
Basavanna rejected gender or social discrimination, superstitions and rituals.
●
He introduced new public institutions such
as the Anubhava Mantapa (“hall of
spiritual experience”), which welcomed men and women from all
socio-economic backgrounds to discuss spiritual and mundane questions of life,
in open.
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As a leader, he developed and inspired a
new devotional movement named Virashaivas,
or “ardent, heroic worshippers of Shiva”.
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This movement shared its roots in the Tamil Bhakti movement,
particularly the Saiva Nayanars traditions, over the 7th- to 11th-century.
Recent
issues:
●
In March 2018, the Karnataka Government
accepted suggestions of the Nagamohan committee and granted minority status to
Lingayats. The proposal was then sent to the Centre for the final approval
seeking legal recognition for Lingayats as a distinct religion, which was then
rejected.
●
Present status - Lingayats are currently
classified as a Hindu sub-caste called
“Veerashaiva Lingayats”.