Basava Jayanti 2022: All you need to know about Basavanna

New Delhi, May 03: Basava Jayanti is a Hindu festival celebrated by Lingayats in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra to honour the birthday of Lord Basavanna.

Basavanna, a 12th century poet and philosopher, is celebrated and held in high regard, especially by the Lingayat community, as he was the founder of Lingayatism.

As per the Hindu calendar, the birth of Basavanna falls on the 3rd day of Vaisahaka month in the Shukla paksha. This usually falls either in April of May of the English calendar.

This year's Basava Jayanti, which is on the same day as Eid, will be celebrated grandly in Mysore at events organised by groups like the Akhila Bharatha Veerasahaiva Mahasabha, Veerashaiva Lingayat Organisations, Basava Balaga Federation.

Why do we celebrate Basava Jayanti?

Though Basava Jayanti is a Hindu festival to celebrate the birth anniversary of Lord Basaveshwara, it is still widely celebrated by all creeds and communities in India. The main objective of the celebration is to share the ancient wisdom of universal brotherhood, "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam."

Meanwhile, this year's Basava Jayanti falling on the same day as Eid led to rumours that there would be a meat ban in Bengaluru on the day. However, a senior BBMP official clarified that there was no truth to the rumour. The official pointed out that the Urban Development Board hasn't marked Basava Jayanti as a day when there was a moratorium on selling meat.

Basavanna made significant contributions in developing the sharana community, which produced great social reformers and poets such as Akka Mahadevi and Allam Prabhu. His beliefs and teachings were tremendous. Some people followed his teaching fully and others did not. He fought against the bad practices of the society and tried changing the society through his deep social knowledge and poetry.