The meteoric rise of Veerashaivism (a religious sect which preaches devotion to the god Shiva, also called "Lingayatism") in caste-ridden 12th-century Karnataka has historic significance because it involved commoners from the lower strata of society, people who had hitherto been denied access to even basic education.Shiva Prakash (1997), p. 167 The essence of the movement, also seen in the resulting Vachana poems, was the rejection of temple-based ritual worship and the hegemony of mainstream Sanskritic texts and scriptures. The movement encouraged a monotheistic belief in the god Shiva which, according to Kannada scholar H.S. Shiva Prakash, is a possible influence of the 63 Nayanmars (poets devoted to the god Shiva, 5th–10th century) of the Tamil-speaking region. The followers of the faith prayed not to a conventional image of a God but rather wore a linga (symbol of the god Shiva) on their body.Shiva Prakash (1997), pp. 168–169Kloppenborg and Hanegraaff (1995), p. 124 The beginnings of the Vachana poetry (called Vachana Sahitya – "Vachana literature", or Anubhava Sahitya – "mystic literature" and sometimes Sharana Sahitya – "literature of the devotees"), a unique form of expression in the Kannada language, can however be traced back to the 11th century.Sahitya Akademi (1987), pp. 199–200
