Akka Mahadevi

Akka Mahadevi:

       There have been many women in the galaxy of Hindu saints. One of them was Mahadevi, popularly known as Akka Mahadevi meaning the elder sister. She lived in the 12th century A. D. in the present day Karnataka. 

     Akka Mahadevi was the contemporary of saints Basavanna and Allmma. From early childhood she was an ardent devotee of Lord Siva. She worshipped Siva in the form of Chenna  Mallikarjuna, meaning the beautiful Lord, white as Jasmine. 

    Also called Akkamma, she was a woman of unsurpassed beauty. A local jain king wanted to marry her. 

     Her parents out of fear of harmful consequences, gave her in marriage to the king. But Mahadevi devotion to Lord  Siva was so deep that she withdrew herself from family life. This was considered unorthodox by the king and her parents. 

    So she left home as a wandering mendicant. She became a  sannysi of highest order, renouncing all desires. 

    Akkamma travelled through out South India spreading the glory of Lied Siva and the greatness of Saivism. 

    Towards the end of her life she retreated into a cave where her deep rioted desire to merge with the infinite Chenna Mallikarjuna was fulfilled. She quietly left the earth and merged with Siva. 

    Akkamma left legacy to the world, which was her poetry, written with passion and emotion. The outpourings of her experiences are preserved to this day in the form of vachanas in Kannada.