- Basavanna was a 12th-century philosopher, statesman, Kannada poet and a social reformer who lived in Karnataka during the reign of the Kalachuri-dynasty king Bijjala I.
- He served as the chief minister of his kingdom.
- Basavanna rejected gender or social discrimination, superstitions and rituals.
- During his tenure as Chief Minister, he introduced many new public institutions like Anubhava Mantapa (“hall of spiritual experience”) that would facilitate men and women from all socio-economic backgrounds to have a healthy and open discuss on various spiritual and mundane questions of life.
- A 13th-century sacred Telugu text, the Basava purana by Palkuriki Somanatha offers a full account of Basava’s life and ideas.
- He used Vachana form of writing style to spread social awareness and bring equality in the 12th-century society.
- Vachana is a prosaic form very much popular in the Kannada literature. It propagates values of universal brotherhood.
- Why in news? Prime Minister Narendra Modi has unveiled translated volumes of Vachana in 23 Indian languages on the occasion of Basava Jayanti.