Philosophical and Religious Background

"Shoonya Sampandane" the concept and work is regarded as one of the seminal literary and philosophical contributions of 12^th century AD. It is found that the Siddaganga Math from the early years of its establishment had some links with this philosophy, as many sharanas from this place had created literary works on this subject. The well known among them are; Gummalapur Siddalingeshwara Shoonya Sampadane, Siddaveerannadeya Shoonya Sampadane and so on.

This kind of philosophical contribution by many sharanas of this place is aptly considered as responsible for the spread of the philosophy of Kalyana Basava and of his followers. Besides these versions of Shoonya Sampadane many literary and epical works of the highest order bear their origin to this place. This kind of a religious scenario is clearly observed in the geographical area spread between Hardanahalli to Mysore. The topographical area covering Siddaganga, Shivaganga, Gubbi, Yediyur, and Hardanahalli etc., was regarded as a place for spreading Sharana Sahitya (Literature), culture and the religious endowment from 12^th to 18^th century. This has been influenced by the contributions made by the sharanas of Basava period and the same tradition is followed by Sree Siddaganga.

The area is also endowed with religious movement, as the number of Math in and around the place has been found. The Shivaganaga had 64 Maths, few of which are in existence now. There were another 64 Maths, including the Sarpabhushan Math in the heart of Bangalore city. These were the abodes of great religious leaders who propagated the mission of "Work is Worship" the basic philosophy of Sree Basaveshwara.