Lingayat or Virshaiva - Lingayat is a religious tradition in South India whose known history of formation is linked to Basava and the 12th-century Karnataka movements. The Vachana poems and poet-sage communities are important sources for understanding its history and theology.

Followers commonly carry the lingam as a central symbol of Shiva, but the identity and self-definition of Lingayats and their relationship to Hinduism and Shaivism is a matter of diversity and dispute. On this site, the relationship is recorded as a related tradition so as not to impose a disputed classification as a definitive lineage.