Santha Shishunala Sharifa was an Indian social reformer, philosopher and poet.
Santa Shishunala Sharifa was born on 7 March 1819 in Shishuvinahala, a village in Shigganvi (now Shiggaon) taluk (in Haveri district), Karnataka.
He was the son of Imam Saheb, who was a disciple of Hajaresha Qadri, whose dream was to unite Hinduism and Islam.
He cared little for caste or religion, and spent more time with anyone who invited him, and ate anywhere he felt like eating.
One day, Govinda Bhatta came to Shishuvinahala, and Sharifa's father found him seated under a tree.
In the eyes of Muslims, the boy was a Kaafir (infidel) and for Brahmins, the Master was a Mleccha (outsider).
Sharifa, overcome with feeling, prostrates himself at the Master's feet (Hakida janivarava sadhgurunatha).
To this, Sharifa calmly replies, pointing at his own body, "I dwell in this mosque, so why go and come?
He starts participating in folk dramas, teaching simple lessons through daily experiences.
The composition "Sorutihudu Maneya Maligi" can be traced to Great Famine 1876-1888 that plagued southern and western India.
People dying in millions resorted to blind beliefs and faiths some even asking him to control the famine.
The main character was played by the Kannada actor Sridhar, and the supporting cast included Girish Karnad and Suman Ranganath Sharifa's songs have been sung by famous playback singers, notably C. Ashwath, Shimoga Subbanna, Raghu Dixit and Archana Udupa.
Raghu's self-titled debut album launched by the popular music director duo Vishal–Shekhar[4] contains two songs "Soruthihudu Maniya Maligi"[5] and "Gudugudiya Sedi Noda",[6] which are compositions of Sharifa.
[7] His next album Jag Changa also has 2 songs originally written by Shishunala Sharifa "Lokada Kalaji" and "Kodagana Koli Nungitha".