Everyone and everything
Kannappa
Thinnan · Kannappa Nayanar · Bhakta Kannappa
The hunter Thinnan who worshipped the Kalahasti linga with meat and water carried in his mouth and, when the linga's…
Basavanna
Basava · Basaveshwara
Twelfth-century minister of the Kalachuri king Bijjala II and the guiding figure of the Lingayats: founder of the…
Ghushma
Kusuma
The devotee who made a hundred and one clay lingas every day, kept worshipping when her jealous sister killed her son…
Akka Mahadevi
A 12th-century Kannada woman poet-saint of the Sharana movement whose vachanas address Shiva as Chennamallikarjuna, her…
Allama Prabhu
A 12th-century Kannada mystic and vachana poet, presiding figure of the Anubhava Mantapa at Kalyana, whose signature is…
Chand Sadagar
The proud Shaiva merchant of the Manasamangal who refuses to worship Manasa, loses six sons and his ships to her, and…
Dharumi
The poor poet to whom Shiva gave a verse answering the Pandya king's question, so that he might win the prize. Stub…
Kamarupa
The Shiva devotee imprisoned by Bhimasura in the popular Bhimashankar legend, whose worship brought Shiva to the…
Manikkavacakar
The Pandya minister sent to buy horses who met Shiva as an ascetic at Tirupperunturai and spent the king's money on a…
Nakkeerar
Nakkirar
The Sangam-academy poet who found fault with a poem that Shiva had given the poor poet Dharumi, held his ground even…
Shrikhar
The boy of Ujjain who, with the priest Vridhi, prayed to Shiva when rival kings and the demon Dushana attacked the…
Vanthi
Chemmanachelvi
The old puttu-seller of Madurai for whom Shiva worked as a labourer on the Vaigai bund, paid in puttu; her name is…
Sudeha
Ghushma's elder sister and co-wife of the brahmin Sudharma, who out of jealousy killed Ghushma's son and was forgiven…