Anubhava Mantapa: A Hub of Revolutionary Discourse in the Sharana Movement

In the 12th century, a remarkable experiment in open debate took shape in the town of Kalyana in present-day Karnataka. At its centre stood the Anubhava Mantapa, a gathering where saints, labourers, and thinkers came together to question caste, ritual, and the role of women in spiritual life. Founded by the reformer Basavanna during the broader Sharana movement, this forum became a space where ideas were tested through argument rather than accepted through authority. To understand the political thought of figures like Akka Mahadevi, we must first understand the unusual institution that gave their words a platform.

What was the Anubhava Mantapa? 🔗

The Anubhava Mantapa, whose name translates roughly to “hall of experience,” was an assembly established by Basavanna in the 12th century. It functioned as a public gathering that drew men and women from many walks of life to openly discuss spiritual, economic, and social questions. Located in Basavakalyan, it has often been described as one of the earliest forums of its kind, with some accounts calling it a forerunner of parliamentary debate because of the way it brought participants together to deliberate on shared problems.

What made the forum distinctive was not just its existence but its membership. The Sharanas came from across the social spectrum: Brahmins, Shudras, Dalits, and Vaishyas participated together without discrimination, united by their devotion rather than divided by birth. In a society where religious authority was guarded closely by a few, this openness was genuinely radical.

A forum presided over by Allama Prabhu 🔗

The discussions at the Anubhava Mantapa were guided by the mystic Allama Prabhu, who advocated self-realisation and personal spiritual experience over rituals. His use of paradox and metaphor challenged conventional beliefs, and his presence set the tone for a culture of rigorous questioning. Notably, Allama did not spare even respected figures from scrutiny. Some of his poems probed and questioned fellow devotees, and his exchanges with newcomers often functioned as a kind of intellectual examination before they were accepted into the fold.

The Sharana movement and its social vision 🔗

The Anubhava Mantapa was the institutional heart of a wider current known as the Sharana movement. Led by Basavanna, this movement attracted followers from all castes and produced a body of writing that voiced the spiritual and social concerns of its participants. The society around them was deeply stratified, with religious authority concentrated among Brahmins and lower castes facing severe exclusion. The Sharanas set out to dismantle these structures through the twin ideals of spiritual equality and social justice.

Kayaka and Dasoha: dignity of labour and sharing 🔗

Two principles anchored the movement’s economic and ethical vision. The first was Kayaka, the idea that honest work of any kind is sacred and is itself a path to the divine. Under this principle, there was no hierarchy of vocations; intellectual and manual labourers alike were seen as workers, and even spiritual teachers were expected to work. This was a direct attack on a social order that ranked people by the supposed purity of their occupation.

The second principle was Dasoha, the practice of sharing one’s earnings with the community rather than hoarding wealth. Taken together, Kayaka and Dasoha promoted what some scholars describe as an early vision of a welfare society, where dignity of labour and equitable distribution were treated as spiritual duties rather than mere economic arrangements.

Vachana literature: philosophy in the language of the people 🔗

The conversations at the Anubhava Mantapa gave rise to Vachana literature, a form of rhythmic prose writing in Kannada that flourished in the 12th century. The word “vachana” literally means “that which is said,” and these texts were valued for their simplicity and directness. Rather than using Sanskrit, which was inaccessible to most people, the Sharanas wrote in everyday Kannada, making complex philosophical ideas available to common people.

This choice of language was itself a political act. By rejecting the Sanskrit-dominated literary world, the Vachanakaras democratised access to spiritual thought. The Vachanas openly criticised rituals and caste discrimination while advocating a personal, direct relationship with the divine. More than two hundred Vachana writers have been recorded, and significantly, more than thirty of them were women, an extraordinary figure for medieval society.

Voices from the margins 🔗

The inclusiveness of the forum was not merely theoretical. Saints such as Haralayya, a cobbler from the Chamar community, joined the Anubhava Mantapa, where every caste was welcome. The participation of a leatherworker in a leading spiritual assembly demonstrated that the movement’s commitment to equality reached into communities that mainstream religion had long pushed to the edges.

Akka Mahadevi: a woman’s critique from within the forum 🔗

Among the most striking figures associated with the Anubhava Mantapa was Akka Mahadevi, a woman saint whose very presence challenged the gender norms of her time. Her honorific “Akka,” meaning elder sister, was bestowed on her by fellow Sharanas in recognition of her spiritual stature. Her participation showed that the forum’s ideals of equality extended to women’s spiritual autonomy in a period when women were typically excluded from religious discourse.

Akka Mahadevi was openly critical of society and patriarchy, and she expressed her views boldly through her Vachanas. Her poetry questioned the assumption that women were inherently inferior or that their spiritual potential was limited by gender. She used emotive imagery and intensely personal expression to critique social and gender inequalities, and she has come to be regarded as a symbol of female empowerment and spiritual independence.

The test before acceptance 🔗

Akka Mahadevi’s entry into the Anubhava Mantapa was not automatic, and the story of how she gained acceptance reveals the forum as a genuinely argumentative space. According to the text Sunya Sampadane, which gives a poetic account of the deliberations held by the Sharanas, she was subjected to a searching examination before being admitted. Her exchange with Allama Prabhu probed not only her spiritual standing but also her complete devotion to her chosen beloved, the deity she called Chennamallikarjuna.

This episode matters because it shows that respect in the forum had to be earned through dialogue and argument. Even a figure as remarkable as Akka Mahadevi was questioned closely. Yet once she responded, the Sharanas recognised her attainment, and Basavanna, Allama Prabhu, and Chennabasavanna went on to honour the brilliance of her words in their own Vachanas. Acceptance came through persuasion, not through deference to rank or gender.

An argumentative space and its lasting significance 🔗

The defining feature of the Anubhava Mantapa was its character as a place of debate rather than decree. Participants were encouraged to think rationally, to depend on their own work, and to contribute back to society. Disagreement was not suppressed; even Basavanna and other leading figures could be questioned. This culture of open argument allowed marginalised voices, whether of women or of lower-caste members, to enter a serious intellectual conversation as equals.

The movement’s radicalism eventually provoked a backlash. When the Sharanas arranged a marriage between a lower-caste bridegroom and a Brahmin bride, defying the strict boundaries of the day, the resulting tension between reformers and conservatives escalated into violence that dispersed the movement. Basavanna was forced to leave Kalyana, and the great experiment scattered. Yet the ideas survived in the Vachanas, which continued to circulate and inspire.

For students of political thought, the Anubhava Mantapa offers an early example of deliberative equality: a space where authority was challenged through reasoned debate, where labour was dignified regardless of caste, and where a woman could critique patriarchy and be honoured for it. The forum’s emphasis on free expression, accessible language, and inclusion across caste and gender lines makes it a striking precedent for later movements concerned with rights, representation, and social justice.

What do you think? Can a religious or spiritual forum genuinely function as a space of democratic argument, or does shared devotion eventually limit how far dissent can go? And what does Akka Mahadevi’s experience tell us about how marginalised voices win acceptance in spaces that claim to be equal?

References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basava
2. https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-news-analysis/anubhava-mantapa-in-basavakalyan-karnataka
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anubhava_Mantapa
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allama_Prabhu
5. https://testbook.com/ias-preparation/basavanna
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vachana_sahitya
7. http://www.sahapedia.org/the-vachanas-of-akkamahadevi-0
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haralayya
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akka_Mahadevi
10. https://www.poojn.in/post/32456/allama-prabhu-and-akkamahadevi-vachana-literatures-founding-figures
11. https://www.studocu.com/in/document/university-of-delhi/political-science/akka-mahadevi-critique-of-social-order/49765205
12. https://vajiramandravi.com/upsc-exam/basavanna/