The legendary saint Akka Mahadevi was born around 1130 A.D. in Udutadi. Udutadi is a small village in Shimoga District, at present in Karnataka, India.
She hailed from an orthodox Veera Saiva family. Her parents were Nirmalshetti and Sumathi. Both the parents were belongs to a literate community of the time. She was given proper education and brought up as an intellectual and pious maiden. In a early age she displayed a very strong inclination to religious matters. She became a great poet of the time who sang the glory of Lord Siva.
She was married to king Kaushigan with some prenuptial agreements about her belief and practices . The king was a Jain (follower of Jainism). When time went on, her belief and practices were disrespected by the king. This caused a strong disagreement and conflict between them. She rejected her family life and left the palace as a Digambari. Digamabari is a practice of nudity as an absolute pre-requisite in Jainism to the medicament's path and to attain moksha.
She covered her body with her tresses. When Allama Prabu, a mystic-saint and a didactic poet asked her for the reason she is covering her body as she chose to be Digambari. She answered him that it is to prevent others to get distracted by her nudity. He respected her purity of the heart and started to call her as Akka (elder sister) Maha Devi.
She was praying to Lord Shiva (Chenna Mallikarjuna) with a Madhura Bhava. Madhura bhava is traditionally understood as a form of devotion where a person is absolutely make the Lord as her worldly and eternal soul mate. Akka Maha Devi declared herself as the bride of Lord Shiva and was singing the glory of Him. All her poems and songs (called as Vachanas) ends with Chenna Mallikarjuna. The poems are simple but with a higher order experiences. For example, this is one of her poems.
Yet doesn’t reach you;
My mind is troubled.
Like a toll-keeper at the city gates,
My mind is unhappy.
It cannot become empty
Forgetting duality.
Show me how you can become me,
O Chennamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender.
She became a wandering saint-poet. She was travelling to many places singing the glory of the Lord. Her life as was a great inspiration for women empowerment and enlightenment at that time. She also took part in many gatherings of the learned to discuss as well as debate about the philosophy of emancipation and enlightenment.
At the end of a life, she was practicing tapas (spiritual exercise leading to moksha) in the thick forest cave at Kadali, Srisailam. The place was located near to her beloved Lord Chenna Mallikarjuna. She then had herself united with her Lord in 1166 AD.
