Prabhu's philosophy, the Sakala mata Siddhanta rests on the principles of Advaita Vedanta as propagated by Adi Sankara.

Shri Prabhu composed numerous bhajans and padas in various languages such as Marathi, Kannada, Hindi, Urdu and Sanskrit.

Manika Prabhu was born into Deshastha Rigvedi Bramhin family of Srivatsa gotra on 22 December 1817 (Margashirsha Pournima - Datta Jayanti, Shaka 1739 Eashwara naama Samvatsara) in his grandmother's native Ladwanti near Basavakalyana (now in the Bidar district of Karnataka).

It is said that his parents, who celebrated Rama Navmi every year, had a divine vision of Lord Dattatreya on the Ram Navami of 1817 before Prabhu's birth.

[6] Prabhu lost his father at an early age and thus grew up under the guardianship of his maternal uncle Shri Balwantrao Apparao Kulkarni, who was employed with the Nawab of Basavakalyana.

He used to roam in the forests for days at a stretch and not return home, which led to the people of Basavakalyana calling him veda bhau (mad child).

After leaving home, Prabhu stayed and performed penance at Amrutkund - a holy place in the jungles near Manthal for six months.

Devotees believe that Bhagawan Dattatreya, disguised as a Bairagi once visited Prabhu at Amritkund and gave him Danda, Deeksha and Jholi, mandating his future journey as a wandering yogi and an itinerant messenger of truth.

The people of this village did not visit this temple after nightfall due to the fear of dacoits, thieves and wild animals.

Prabhu travelled on foot as a wandering yogi across the length and breadth of the country covering places of religious importance such as Varanasi, Haridwar, Mathura, Badri, Puri, Dwarka, Girnar, Tirupati and Rameshwaram.

Some of his Muslim devotees believe that he visited the shrine of Mehboob Subhani in Baghdad (Iraq) during his travels in North India.

According to Ganesh Raghunath Kulkarni (Prabhu's official biographer), the river Chandrabhaga was flooded when he visited Pandharpur.

During his countrywide travel, he composed numerous bhajans in praise of various deities in Marathi, Kannada, Hindi, Urdu and Sanskrit.

[7] Prabhu also visited the Gottamgotti forest, Ketaki Sangam and Nyalkal among other places when he came back to his native land.

According to Ganesh Raghunath Kulkarni, Prabhu is believed to have visited every devotee's home at the same time in a miraculous example of multilocation.

According to the same account, when Muslim residents of Bidar tried to test him by giving him meat and wine for lunch, Prabhu is believed to have converted them into fruits and milk.

After completing his spiritual journey across the country, Prabhu finally decided to settle on the banks of the rivulets Viraja and Guruganga in the year 1845 which later came to be known as Maniknagar (a place near Humnabad in Bidar District of Karnataka).

Prabhu liked the area and decided to make it his permanent abode and also a center for the propagation of his philosophy of sakalamata siddhanta.

Prabhu stayed in a simple hut and ate only the madhukari bhiksha (alms) which his disciples would bring from the nearby villages.

Later on, Prabhu allowed people from all walks of life to stay at Maniknagar and the population started increasing steadily.

The name and fame of Manik Prabhu spread quickly and people of all religions, sects and communities started flocking to Maniknagar.

Prabhu used to hold a gathering everyday called darbar where thousands of people visited him and sought his blessings.

Hundreds of Vedic scholars, Fakeers, jangams and other mendicants came to Maniknagar to receive blessings and khairaat from Prabhu.

[10] It is said that the fifth Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Afzaluddaula sent his courtier Yashwantrao Arab to seek Shri Prabhu's blessings.

Stories of his miracles and eyewitness accounts, which bear testimony to the manner in which he brought succor to the distressed and the sorrowing, to the afflicted and the wronged, who, ardently and with deep faith and devotion sought his spiritual intervention are available.

According to Ganesh Raghunath Kulkarni, Nanasaheb Peshwa of Bithur sent a letter to Prabhu seeking his blessings, guidance and support in 1857.

On the night of Dashami (28 Nov 1865), Prabhu distributed khairaat (alms) to Fakeers and the poor as coincidentally it was the day of Gyarahvi Shareef (anniversary of the death of Mehboob Subhani, famous Sufi saint of Baghdad).

On the early morning of Ekadashi, Prabhu retired to his hut and took sanyasa deeksha according to the scriptures under total secrecy.

Eyewitness accounts suggest that Prabhu left his physical body by the yogic way of Samadhi on the evening of Ekadashi around 5 PM.

It is a religious and cultural extravaganza in which hundreds of vedic Pundits, Musicians, Folk artists along with thousands of devotees assemble in Maniknagar to pay their tributes to the Samadhi of Manik Prabhu.