Allama Prabhu

Allama Prabhu (Kannada) is a mystic-saint and Vachana poet (called Vachanakara ) of the Kannada language in the 12th century. Prabhu is the patron saint (Prabhu, lit, "Master"), the undisputed spiritual authority, and an integral part of the Lingayata (lit, "Devotees of the god Para-Shiva or Lingadeva ") movement that decisively shaped society in medieval Karnataka and forever changed the contour of popular Kannada poetry. He is normally included among the "Trinity of Lingayatism" – along with Basavanna, the founder of the movement, and Akka Mahadevi, the most prominent woman poet. The socio-religious movement they pioneered used poetry (called Vachana Sahitya, lit, "Vachana literature") to criticise mere ritual worship and the caste -based society, and gave importance to moral values and love of mankind. It is well accepted that though Basavanna was the inspiration behind the Veerashaiva movement and earned the honorific "elder brother" (anna ) at the "mansion of experience" (Anubhava Mantapa ), Allama was the real guru who presided over it.