Indira Gandhi on Basava

“Basava (twelfth century AD), a Saivite saint of South India was a religious teacher, social reformer, and revolutionary who opposed image worship, rejected the Vedas, and the authority of the priests and instituted complete equality among his followers, even equality for women. He was the founder of the Lingayat sect.”

“Basaveshwara taught that each person was in direct relationship with God or with destiny and needs no one’s mediation.”

“Besides promoting a religious movement of unusual fervour, Sri Basaveshwara was also a great literary figure and was one of the makers of Kannada literature.”