The tradition of Basava and the vachana poets: devotion to Shiva carried in the ishtalinga worn on the body, with caste and Vedic ritual set aside.
The Lingayat, or Virashaiva, tradition gathers around Basava and the twelfth-century vachana poets of Karnataka, whose short free-verse utterances reject caste, temple mediation, and Vedic ritual in favour of direct devotion to Shiva, carried in the ishtalinga each devotee wears. Its placement under Shaivism in this tree is disputed and is recorded as disputed: many Lingayats hold that theirs is a separate religion and not a branch of Shaivism or of Hinduism, and this record states that contested identity openly rather than settling it by placement.
A contested placement
Where this entity belongs is itself disputed, so both positions stand here with their sources rather than one being silently chosen.
Placed under Shaivism
Lingayat (Virashaiva) is a Shaiva tradition, gathered around devotion to Shiva in the ishtalinga and the vachana poets.
Source: The classification used by most comparative surveys of the Hindu traditions.
Placed under Shaivism
Many Lingayats hold that theirs is a separate religion, not a branch of Shaivism or of Hinduism, and have pressed that claim in public recognition debates in Karnataka.
Source: The community's own self-identification, stated in its literature and its recognition campaigns.
Sources
Primary
- The Vachanas of Basava and the other sharanas.
Secondary
- A. K. Ramanujan, Speaking of Siva.
How this compares to Christianity
How does this branch relate to the historic Christian faith?
This assessment has not yet been reviewed. Every verdict below stands at Not yet reviewed until the named theological reviewers supply it.
- Does it consider itself Christian?
- Not yet reviewed
- Did it arise from the Christian tradition?
- Not yet reviewed
- Does it affirm the ecumenical creeds?
- Not yet reviewed
- Is it recognized as Christian by the historic bodies?
- the Catholic Church: Not yet reviewed
- the Eastern Orthodox Church: Not yet reviewed
- the Oriental Orthodox churches: Not yet reviewed
- conciliar Protestant bodies: Not yet reviewed
- the WCC / National Council of Churches: Not yet reviewed
- This site's assessment
- Not yet reviewed
- Reviewer
- Not yet reviewed. The theological reviewers are named on the criteria page when they are appointed.
The comparative record for this entity, its points of convergence and divergence across the ten loci, has not yet been populated. It stands in the assessment queue on the criteria page.
What this assessment cannot settle
This assessment determines what this entity teaches and how that teaching relates to the historic Christian creeds. It does not determine whether any person is saved, whether God accepts their worship, whether they are sincere, or whether the criteria applied here are correct.
This assessment is made from the standpoint described in our editorial statement and our criteria page. It reports classifications; it does not rank sincerity, spiritual standing, or the eternal state of any person. To persons, rather than teachings, this site says what it says everywhere: God's law shows every one of us our sin, and in Christ God offers every one of us forgiveness and new life.