Overview

Hampeya Harihara lived between the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries in Hampe (a.k.a. Hampi) and wrote in Kannada, a language of the south-Indian Dravidian family. With the aim of reaching large segments of the population, Harihara set out to develop a new style of narrative literature in Kannada, one that introduced straightforward plotting, quotidian characters, moderate use of literary ornamentation, simple prosody, and highly emotional expressivity. The work he composed in this style, the Shivasharanara Ragalegalu (""Stories of Shiva's Saints Written in the Ragale Meter"") inaugurated a new era in Kannada literature. As the first English translation of eighteen stories from this work, this book serves as an invitation to contemporary readers to enjoy and appreciate a text that is rich with religious fervor, antinomian social agendas, raucous characters, and gripping drama-but also delicate poetry and significant historical importance.Stories of Shiva's Saints reveals Harihara's inclusive and flexible religious and social vision, according to which Shiva devotees from different backgrounds can share devotional practices and values while maintaining communal and personal commitments of different kinds. Harihara's work is of major historical significance as the first text to narrate the lives of important religious figures and vachana poets of the time, such as Allama Prabhu and Akka, and in particular Basava, the most well-known leader of the nascent tradition today identified with the Virashaivas/Lingayats.

Full Product Details

Author:   Gil Ben-Herut (Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of South Florida) ,  R. V. S. Sundaram (Former director of the Institute of Kannada Studies, Former director of the Institute of Kannada Studies, University of Mysore)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint:   Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 16.80cm , Height: 3.60cm , Length: 24.10cm
Weight:   0.848kg
ISBN:  

9780197782620

ISBN 10:   0197782620
Pages:   488
Publication Date:   27 October 2025
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
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Table of Contents

Stories of Shiva's Saints Acknowledgements PART I: AN INTRODUCTION Of Saints and Gods Shiva Devotion, South India, and the Kannada-Speaking Region Meter, Style, and Language About the Translation PART II: TRANSLATIONS The Divine Lord Basava: Leader, Saint, and Poet Chapter 1: In Shiva's Heavenly Realm Chapter 2: A Human Child Chapter 3: At Kappadi Chapter 4: Sent on a Mission Chapter 5: Arriving at Mangalavada Chapter 6: At Bijjala's Court Chapter 7: Serving the Devotees Chapter 8: A Charge of Embezzlement Chapter 9: Devotees and Miracles Chapter 10: Vaishnava Brahmins and a Newborn Child Chapter 11: The Onion Festival Chapter 12: Shiva's Trials for Basava Chapter 13: A Cobbled-together Epilogue Revered Mahadevi, Who Left Her Husband for Shiva Chapter 1: In Shiva's Heavenly Realm Chapter 2: Earthly Birth and Childhood Chapter 3: King Kaushika Falls Head over Heels for Mahadevi Chapter 4: The Wedding Chapter 5: Worshiping Shiva Chapter 6: Walking Out on Marriage Chapter 7: Srisailam the Holy Mountain Allama the Master: Lover Turned Ascetic Lord Revanasiddha: Wild and Powerful Itinerant Chapter 1: Birth from a Linga Chapter 2: Vibhishana and Thirty Million Lingas in Lanke Chapter 3: King Bijjala, Gorakshaka, and a Sword Chapter 4: A Water Reservoir and a Preterm Birth Chapter 5: Rudramunideva, Kallayya, Chamaladevi, and Returning to Kailasa Chief Minister Keshiraja: Brahmin and Devotee Chapter 1: The Chief Minister Chapter 2: Renunciation Chapter 3: Meeting Jommayya and Recovering the Linga Jommayya: Hunter and Zealot Chapter 1: The Killing of a Vaishnava Storyteller Chapter 2: Jommayya Confronts King Permadi Chapter 3: Heaps of Flesh and a Brahmin's Visit Kallayya, The Goldsmith Whose Dog Mastered the Vedas Bhoganna and the Lingas that Followed Him Gundayya, the Pot Maker Who Made the Lord Dance Nimbavve, Who Used Her Body to Serve Shiva Chavundaraya of Musute: Reviver of Bulls Bommatande of Bahuru: Devotee of Miraculous Feats Chapter 1: The Grain and the Jain Chapter 2: King Permadi and His Elephant Chapter 3: The Temple Dancer and the Bull Chavundaraya of the Suragi Flower: Devotee of Murderous Faith Shankara Dasimayya, Who Got a Fiery Eye from Shiva Chapter 1: Govinda Acquires a Fiery Eye Chapter 2: Teaching a Devotee and a King a Lesson Chapter 3: Becoming a Leader Bommatande of Kovuru, Who Sailed on a Wave of Mutilation Chapter 1: A Shaiva King among Jains Chapter 2: Killing the Jains Chapter 3: Self Sacrifice Adayya, Who Wreaked Vengeance on the Jains Chapter 1: Adayya and Padmavati Take on Human Birth Chapter 2: Marriage and the Incident with the Ascetics Chapter 3: Shiva and the Temple Conversion at Puligere Vaijakavve, Who Converted Her Jain Husband Ramayya the Recluse, Who Offered Shiva His Own Head APPENDIX I: SUMMARIES The Divine Lord Basava: Leader, Saint, and Poet Revered Mahadevi, Who Left Her Husband for Shiva Allama the Master: Lover Turned Ascetic Lord Revanasiddha: Wild and Powerful Itinerant Chief Minister Keshiraja: Brahmin and Devotee Jommayya: Hunter and Zealot Kallayya, The Goldsmith Whose Dog Mastered the Vedas Bhoganna and the Lingas that Followed Him Gundayya, the Pot Maker Who Made the Lord Dance Nimbavve, Who Used Her Body to Serve Shiva Chavundaraya of Musute: Reviver of Bulls Bommatande of Bahuru: Devotee of Miraculous Feats Chavundaraya of the Suragi Flower: Devotee of Murderous Faith Shankara Dasimayya, Who Got a Fiery Eye from Shiva Bommatande of Kovuru, Who Sailed on a Wave of Mutilation Adayya, Who Wreaked Vengeance on the Jains Vaijakavve, Who Converted Her Jain Husband Ramayya the Recluse, Who Offered Shiva His Own Head

Reviews

For decades, the study of South Indian Shaivism has been dominated by the foundational translations, A. K. Ramanujan's Speaking of Siva and Velcheru Narayana Rao and Gene Roghair's Siva's Warriors: The Basava Purana of Palkuriki Somanatha. Gil Ben-Herut and R. V. S. Sundaram's groundbreaking translation of Harihara's Ragalegalu is an important addition to this body of scholarship on Shaiva devotion. Spanning stories of well-known figures such as Basava and Mahadevi to lesser-known hagiographies of the goldsmith Kallayya and the potter Gundayya, Stories of Shiva's Saints presents a rich palette of religious experience that reorients our understandings of caste, gender, and Shaivism in the early second millennium. * Harshita Mruthinti Kamath, Visweswara Rao and Sita Koppaka Associate Professor in Telugu Culture, Literature and HistoryMiddle Eastern and South Asian Studies Emory University *

Author Information

Gil Ben-Herut is a professor at the University of South Florida. He holds a PhD in Religious Studies from Emory University. His research interests include premodern religious literature in the Kannada language, South Asian devotional traditions, translation in South Asia, and programming in Digital Humanities. In 2023, Dr. Ben-Herut was awarded the Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Award and the Senior Short-Term Research Grant funded by the American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for his project ""A History of Speaking: Artifact and Authority in Kannada Devotional Songs."" R. V. S. Sundaram retired as the Director of the Institute of Kannada Studies at the University of Mysore in 2008. He was also a Visiting Professor of South Indian Languages and Literatures at the University of Pennsylvania and other universities. He is a polyglot who has published more than 100 books and monographs in Telugu, Kannada, and English. His books include poetry, fiction, criticism, folklore, and translations. He is the recipient of several state and national awards from A. P. Sahitya Akademi, Union Ministry of Education, Central Institute of Indian Languages, and Gulbarga University.

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