Vachana Movement, Kannada Literature and the Arts — KPSC KAS GS Paper I

Weightage: GS Paper I, Section I names the Bhakti and Vachana movements and Kannada literature. GS Paper IV names Basavanna and Kanaka Dasa again in ethics, so this chapter pays twice.

1. Why the Vachana movement is both history and ethics

The Vachana movement is a social and religious reform of the 12th century. It gave Kannada a new literary form and a social programme against caste and ritual hierarchy.

The same ideas, dignity of labour and equality, come back in GS Paper IV, so learn them once and use them in both papers.

2. Basavanna and the Anubhava Mantapa

Basavanna (12th century) was a minister at the court of Bijjala at Kalyana (Basavakalyan). He is the central figure of the Lingayat (Veerashaiva) tradition.

His Anubhava Mantapa, a forum for spiritual and social discussion, drew men and women from many castes. Two ideas carry the questions:

• Kayaka is work as worship. Every honest occupation has dignity.
• Dasoha is service, the sharing of what one earns.

Basavanna rejected caste hierarchy, ritual excess and temple-centred worship, and he supported inter-caste marriage.

3. Vachanas and the other Sharanas

Vachanas are short, rhythmic prose-poems in plain Kannada. They are not tied to a metre and were meant to be spoken.

The main voices are:

• Basavanna, whose signature is Kudalasangamadeva.
• Akka Mahadevi, a woman mystic whose vachanas speak of devotion and renunciation, signed Channamallikarjuna.
• Allama Prabhu, a mystic known for his questioning and philosophical vachanas.
• Channabasavanna, who helped organise the movement's thought.

4. The Haridasa tradition

The Haridasas were wandering devotional singers of Vishnu, in the Dvaita tradition of Madhvacharya, who composed in simple Kannada.

Purandara Dasa is called the pitamaha (grandfather) of Carnatic music for his work on teaching methods. Kanaka Dasa, a shepherd by birth, criticised caste and ritual in his songs; the Kaginele pilgrimage site is linked to him.

5. Kannada literature in brief

Kannada is a classical language, recognised as such in 2008. The line runs as follows:

• Kavirajamarga (9th century): the earliest surviving work on poetics, linked to Amoghavarsha I.
• Pampa, Ponna and Ranna: the three jewels of early Kannada literature, in the 10th century.
• Vachana literature (12th century) and Haridasa songs (15th century onward).
• Modern literature: Navodaya, Pragatishila and Navya movements.

Jnanpith awardees in Kannada number eight: Kuvempu, D. R. Bendre, K. Shivarama Karanth, V. K. Gokak, Masti Venkatesha Iyengar, U. R. Ananthamurthy, Girish Karnad and Chandrashekhara Kambara.

Kuvempu wrote the state anthem Jaya Bharata Jananiya Tanujate.

6. Performing arts and crafts

Yakshagana is a night-long theatre of the coast and Malnad, with elaborate costume, music and dance. Dollu Kunitha is a drum dance of the Kuruba community.

Mysore Dasara is the royal festival at Mysore, held for ten days in Ashwayuja. Mysore painting is known for gesso work and gold leaf.

Crafts with Geographical Indication status include Bidri ware of Bidar, Channapatna toys and Mysore silk.

Common traps KPSC sets here

• Placing Basavanna in Mysore. He worked at Kalyana (Basavakalyan) under Bijjala.
• Mixing Vachana and Haridasa traditions. Vachanas are Shaiva and prose-like; the Haridasas are Vaishnava, composing songs.
• Treating Pampa as the first Kannada work. The Kavirajamarga, a work of poetics, is earlier.
• Calling Purandara Dasa and Kanaka Dasa the same person. Purandara Dasa is the Carnatic music figure; Kanaka Dasa is the shepherd-poet linked to Kaginele.
• Listing Karnataka's Jnanpith winners wrongly. There are eight in Kannada; learn the names.

Memory aids

• "Kayaka is work, Dasoha is share": the two Vachana ideas.
• "Pampa, Ponna, Ranna": the early Kannada triad.
• "Kuvempu, Bendre, Karanth, Gokak, Masti, UR, Karnad, Kambara": the eight Jnanpith winners.

Summary

The Vachana movement of the 12th century, led by Basavanna at Kalyana with the Anubhava Mantapa, gave Kannada its vachana form and an ethic of kayaka and dasoha, with Akka Mahadevi and Allama Prabhu among its voices.

The Haridasas, notably Purandara Dasa and Kanaka Dasa, carried devotion in song. Kannada literature runs from the Kavirajamarga and the triad of Pampa, Ponna and Ranna to eight Jnanpith winners. Yakshagana, Dasara and GI-tagged crafts complete the cultural picture.

Exam protocol

• Link Basavanna's kayaka and dasoha explicitly to equality and dignity of labour.
• Use Kalyana, not Mysore, for the Anubhava Mantapa.
• Give a name, date and work for every literature answer.