History

Basavakalyan is a historical town of Bidar District in Karnataka State, India. During the 12th century, it was the capital of the Kingdom of Sri Bajjala, who belonged to the dynasty of Kalchuri Chalukyas. Lord Basaveshwara, a pious personality known for his generosity was the benevolent Prime Minister of this Kingdom. He carried out here an unprecedented revolution for establishing a society free from exploitation and discrimination on account of caste, religion, language and gender. For him, compassion was the foundation of religion. He tirelessly worked for the establishment of a welfare state.


Soon his name and fame spread to different parts of the Indian peninsula like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Gujrat and even to far off places like Kashmir. Even people in countries as far as Afghanistan and Sri Lanka were inspired by him and his mission. Men, women and even kings were drawn to this place where they practiced simple life by adhering to the philosophy “WORK IS WORSHIP” These trulypious people were called SHIVASHRANAS. Lord Basaveshwara established for the first time a real democratic religious parliament known as Anubhava Mantap. It is here, the Shivasharanas carried out the democratic exercise of sharing their experiences for solving the problems of the society. Kannada language attained its zenith of glory during this period. This democratic movement led the development of “ VACHANA SAHITHYA” a profound form of literature in Kannada. Today, it is the most valuable literature which has all the solutions to our present manifold problems, if one truly followed it.

Thus Lord Basaveshwara is hailed as the first revolutionary thinker and social reformer of modern India.

It is here in the 14th century, Raja Bagh Sawar, a noted sufi saint spread the message of communal harmony among all communities. The holy Sadguru Sadanand Swamy math has been also contributing greatly for love, harmony and peace among different communities living here.

Basavakalyan is today the most important commercial place, with population of nearly one lakh. It is a multi-lingual and multi-religious town, known for harmony and peace. It only shows the influence of the message of Lord Basaveshwara and his followers still prevails with full fragrance.