Lingayatism’s radical call to scrap caste hierarchies and ritual trappings opened unexpected doors for women in medieval Karnataka. Basavanna and his band of Sharana saints treated spiritual awakening as everyone’s birthright, handing the mic to female mystics like Akka Mahadevi and Allama Prabhu. Akka Mahadevi’s fiery vachanas blasted away gendered expectations, portraying union with Shiva as a merging of souls rather than a male-dominated ritual. That kind of voice hardly existed anywhere else in 12th-century India.

Temples gave way to open-air sabhas where women could lead devotional singing, debate theology, or own land jointly with their husbands—practices that flew in the face of the wider patriarchal norm. It wasn’t just about preaching—women were encouraged to write poetry, debate philosophy, even serve as gurus. By declaring each jangama (wandering preacher) equal, regardless of birth or gender, Lingayatism sowed seeds of social reform that empowered women to step into public life.

Over the centuries, though, local customs and later Brahminical influences crept back in, dimming some of that early egalitarian spark. Yet today, Lingayat women are reclaiming that heritage. Modern mathas (monastic institutions) are wrestling with demands to recognize female saints, and a handful of Lingayat-run NGOs are pushing for girls’ education and property rights. When Karnataka’s Lingayat leaders lobbied for OBC status in 2023, women activists took center stage in the campaign, proving that the tradition’s reformist DNA still beats strong.

It may be a mixed bag in practice, but the very idea that a 12th-century faith centered women’s spiritual voices alongside men’s was nothing short of revolutionary—and continues to inspire fresh debates on gender and equality today.