He rejected gender or social discrimination, superstitions and rituals[1] but introduced Ishtalinga necklace, with an image of the lingam,[7] to every person regardless of their birth, to be a constant reminder of one's bhakti (devotion) to Shiva.

However, modern scholarship relying on historical evidence such as the Kalachuri inscriptions state that Basava was the poet philosopher who revived, refined and energized an already existing tradition.

[1][2][10] The Basavarajadevara Ragale (13 out of 25 sections are available) by the Kannada poet Harihara (c. 1180) is the earliest available account on the life of the social reformer and is considered important because the author was a near contemporary of his protagonist.

Basava was born in 1131 CE[1] in the town of Basavana Bagewadi in the northern part of Karnataka, to Maadhavarasa and Madalambike, a Kannada Orthodox Brahmin family[14] devoted to the Hindu deity Shiva.

[10][13][15] He was named Basava, a Kannada form of the Sanskrit Vrishabha in honor of Nandi bull (carrier of Shiva) and the local Shaivism tradition.

[10][13] Basava spent twelve years studying in the Hindu temple in the town of Kudalasangama,[13] at Sangameshwara then a Shaivite school of learning, probably of the Lakulisha-Pashupata tradition.

[10] As chief minister of the kingdom, Basava used the state treasury to initiate social reforms and religious movement focussed on reviving Shaivism, recognizing and empowering ascetics who were called Jangamas.

These include various Vachana[1] such as the Shat-sthala-vachana (discourses of the six stages of salvation), Kala-jnana-vachana (forecasts of the future), Mantra-gopya, Ghatachakra-vachana and Raja-yoga-vachana.

[18] This has raised questions about the accuracy and creative interpolation by authors who were not direct witness but derived their work relying on memory, legends, and hearsay of others.

[8][21] Basava's poem, such as Basavanna 703, speak of strong sense of gender equality and community bond, willing to wage war for the right cause, yet being a fellow "devotees' bride" at the time of their need.

[23] His trinity consisted of guru (teacher), linga (personal symbol of Shiva) and jangama (constantly moving and learning).

[27] Both declare Hindu Sruti and Smriti to be sources of valid knowledge, but they disagree on the marga (path) to liberated, righteous life.

[26] Modern scholarship relying on historical evidence such as the Kalachuri inscriptions state that Basava was the 12th-century poet-philosopher who revived and energized an already existing tradition.

Towards the end of the 20th century, Michael estimates, one-sixth of the population of the state of Karnataka, or about 10 million people, were Veerashaiva Lingayat or of the tradition championed by Basava.

[31] Michael states that it wasn't birth but behavior that determined a true saint and Shaiva bhakta in the view of Basava and the Sharanas community.

Jan Peter Schouten states that Virashaivism, the movement championed by Basava, tends towards monotheism with Shiva as the godhead, but with a strong awareness of the unity of the Ultimate Reality.

[34] Schouten calls this as a synthesis of Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita and Shankara's Advaita traditions, naming it Shakti-Vishishtadvaita, that is monism fused with Shakti beliefs.

[35][36] Jessica Frazier et al. state that Basava laid the foundations of a movement that united "Vedic with Tantric practice, and Advaitic monism with effusive Bhakti devotionalism.