Basava (Kannada: ) (also known as Bhakti Bhandari Basavanna (Kannada: ) or Basaveshwara (Kannada: ), (11341196)) was an Indianphilosopher, statesman and

and a social reformer from what is now Karnataka, India. First of all Basaveshwara is the only proponent of rational practice of pranavidya(praanalinga saadhana or jangamaaradhane or ishwarapranidhaana)as an entry point to absolute transcendence. His terms of practice are knowing that praana/jangama alone is the perceivable level of existence of God's consciousness. He observed himself to be an earnest believer of the existence of ishwara perceivably only in prana as consciousness of the chaitanya-shakti(linga). His vachana-"Chhala beku ... Linga-Jangama ondemba..." makes one understand this fact. He ensured that all his followers practiced this. Other fall off works are plenty to mention..among which is the Basava fought against the practice of the caste system, which discriminated against people based on their birth, and other rituals in Hinduism. He spread social awareness through his poetry, popularly known as Vachanaas. Basavanna used Ishtalinga, an image of the iva Liga, to eradicateuntouchability, to establish equality among all human beings and as a means to attain spiritual enlightenment. These were rational and progressive social thoughts in the twelfth century. Basaveshwara is undoubtedly one of the pioneer's of Indian Democracy. He created a model Parliament called the "Anubhava Mantapa," which not only gave equal proportion to men and women, but also had representatives from different socioeconomic backgrounds. The carvings of the model Parliament can be found across many temples in south India.He was a man ahead of his time, who believed that conflict should be resolved through debate and not violence. He advocated mercy towards both humans and animals.