Akka Mahadevi ಅಕ್ಕ ಮಹಾದೇವಿ (c.1130–1160) was one of the early female poets of the Kannada literature and a prominent person in the Lingayat Shaiva sect in the 12th century. Her 430 extant Vachana poems (a form of spontaneous mystical poems), and the two short writings called Mantrogopya and the Yogangatrividh are considered her most notable contribution to Kannada literature. She composed fewer poems than other saints of the movement. The term Akka ("elder Sister") is an honorific given to her by great Lingayat saints such as Basavanna, Siddharama and Allamaprabhu and an indication of her high place in the spiritual discussions held at the "Anubhava Mantapa". She is seen as an inspirational woman in Kannada literature and in the history of Karnataka. She considered the god Shiva ('Chenna Mallikarjuna') as her husband, (traditionally understood as the 'madhura bhava' or 'madhurya' form of devotion). Biography Akka Mahadevi was born in Udutadi, near Shivamogga in the Indian state of the Karnataka around 1130. Some scholars suggest that she was born to a couple named Nirmalshetti and Sumati, who were both devotees of Para Shiva. Western sources claim that little is known about her life, though it has been the subject of Indian hagiographic, folk and mythological claims, based on oral tradition and her own lyrics. One of her lyrics, for instance, appears to record her experiences of leaving her place of her birth and family in order to pursue Shiva. Tharu and Lalita also document a popular claim that a local Jain king named Kaushika sought to marry her, but that she rejected him, choosing instead to fulfil the claims of devotion to the deity Para Shiva. However, the medieval sources that form the basis of this account are ambiguous and inconclusive. They include a reference to one of her poems, or vachanas, in which she lays down three conditions for marrying the king, including control over the choice to spend her time in devotion or in conversation with other scholars and religious figures, rather than with the king. The medieval scholar and poet Harihara suggests in his biography of her that the marriage was purely nominal, while other accounts from Camasara suggest that the conditions were not accepted and the marriage did not occur. Harihara's account goes on to say that when King Kaushika violated the conditions she had laid down, Akka Mahadevi left the palace, renouncing all her possessions including