Lingāyat.

This fresh evidence does not appear to run counter to the commonly accepted story of the origin of the Lingāyats. It confirms the theory that the religion of Siva received a great impetus at this period, but there is nothing in the inscription ascribing to Rāmayya the position of a reformer of Saivaite doctrines. He appears as the champion of Siva against the rival creeds, not as the Saivaite Luther who is attacking the priestly mysticism of the Saivaite divines; and, as Dr. Fleet points out, there is nothing improbable in the mention of several persons as helping on the same movement. Both Rāmayya and Basava are, however, represented in these inscriptions as being the chief of Saivaite Brāhmans, and there is no mention of any schism such as the Protestant revolt which is associated with the name of Luther. It is possible, therefore, that the establishment of the Lingāyat sect may have been brought about by the followers of these two great men—a fact that is hinted at in Lingāyat tradition by the very name of Channabasava, which means Basava the beautiful, because, according to the Channabasava Purāna, he was more beautiful in many respects than Basava, who is represented as receiving instruction from his superior nephew in important points connected with their faith. The two inscriptions and numerous others, which have been deciphered by the same authority, are of the greatest value from a historical point of view, and paint in bold colours the chief actors in the drama. The closing years of the Western Chalukyan kingdom are given to us by the hand of an actor who was on the same stage, and, if the birth of the Lingāyat creed is still obscured in the mist of the past, the figures of those who witnessed it stand out with surprising clearness.

It has been already stated that one of the principles of the religion is a disregard of caste distinctions. The prevailing races were Dravidian, and it is an accepted fact that the theory of caste as propounded by Manu is altogether foreign to Dravidian ideas. Historians cannot tell us how long the process of grafting the caste system on to the Dravidian tree lasted, but it is clear that, when Basava appeared, the united growth was well established. Brāhmans were acknowledged as the leaders in religious matters, and, as the secular is closely interwoven with the religious in all eastern countries, the priestly class was gradually usurping to itself a position of general control. But, as was the case in Europe during the sixteenth century, a movement was on foot to replace the authority of the priests by something more in accordance with the growing intelligence of the laity. And, as in Europe, the reformers were found amongst the priests themselves. Luther and Erasmus were monks, who had been trained to support the very system of priestcraft, which they afterwards demolished. Basava and Rāmayya, as already stated, were Saivaite Brāhmans, from whom has sprung a race of free thinkers, who affect the disregard of caste and many of the ceremonial observances created by the Brāhman priesthood. The comparison may even be carried further. Luther was an iconoclast, who worked upon men’s passions, while Erasmus was a philosopher, who addressed himself to their intellects. Basava, according to the traditionary account, was the counterpart of Luther. Rāmayya may be fairly called the Indian Erasmus.

This freedom from the narrowing influence of caste was doubtless a great incentive to the spread of the reformed religion. The lingam was to be regarded as the universal leveller, rendering all its wearers equal in the eye of the Deity. High and low were to be brought together by its influence, and all caste distinctions were to be swept away. According to Basava’s teaching, all men are holy in proportion as they are temples of the great spirit; by birth all are equal; men are not superior to women, and the gentle sex must be treated with all respect and delicacy; marriage in childhood is wrong, and the contracting parties are to be allowed a voice in the matter of their union; and widows are to be allowed to remarry. All the iron fetters of Brāhmanical tyranny are, in fact, torn asunder, and the Lingāyat is to be allowed that freedom of individual action, which is found amongst the more advanced Christian communities. Even the lowest castes are to be raised to the level of all others by the investiture of the lingam, and all Lingadhāris, or wearers of the divine symbol, are to eat together, to intermarry, and to live at unity.

But social distinctions inevitably asserted themselves later. As the Lingāyats, or Panchamsālis as they styled themselves, increased in importance, number and wealth, elaborate forms of worship and ceremony were introduced, rules of conduct were framed, and a religious system was devised, on which the influence of the rival Brāhman aristocracy can be freely traced. Thus, in course of time, the Panchamsālis became a closed caste, new converts were placed on a lower social footing, the priests alone continuing as a privileged class to dine freely with them. This development is alleged to have occurred about the close of the seventeenth century.

Among the many ceremonies introduced in the course of the changes just described, one known as the ashtavarna or eight-fold protection is of special importance.

These rites consist of—

Among the greater number of Lingāyats, after the birth of a child, the parents send for the guru or spiritual adviser of the family, who is the representative of one of the five Achāryas from whom the father claims descent, or in his absence of his local agent. The guru binds the linga on the child, besmears it with vibhūti (ashes), places a garland of rudrāksha (fruits of Elæocarpus Ganitrus) round its neck, and teaches it the mystic mantra of “Namah Shivaya.” The child being incapable of acquiring the knowledge of the sacred text at this early stage of its existence, the mantra is merely recited in its ear by the guru. The child has then to be presented to the god Siva in the person of a Jangam, or Lingāyat priest, who is summoned for the purpose; on his arrival, the parents wash his feet. The water in which the feet are washed is described as the tīrtha or charana tīrtha of Siva. This tīrtha is next poured over the linga attached to the infant. The Jangam is fed, and a portion of the cooked food from the dish is placed in the child’s mouth. This final ceremony is known as prasāda. (I am informed that it would be considered by Tamil Lingāyats sacrilege to wash the lingam with the tīrtha.) Occasionally the double character of guru and Jangam are combined in one person.

According to some accounts, the rites described above form the basis of the present social organization of the Lingāyat community. They are divided into those entitled to ashtavarna, and those who are not. The first of these divisions is again sub-divided into several groups, which may for convenience be designated Panchamsālis who are descendants of the original converts, and non-Panchamsālis or later converts.