Title: A VANISHED IDENTITY:The Case of the lost Kalamukhas of Karnataka?

Submitted by: Dr. Jayant Bapat, La Trobe University , Australia

The Kalamukhas were a prominent Saivite sect in Western India between the 8th and the 12th century.They were in charge of many Saivite monastries and temples in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh and were religious preceptors to the Karnataka kings. After the advent of Lingayatism in the 13th century, the Kalamukhas seem to have simply vanished altogether. This paper proposes a a possible solution to this puzzle. It proposes that the Saiva-Gurav temple priests of Western India are the successors to the Kalamukhas and discusses the available evidence.

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Carol Burnett
Asialink
The University of Melbourne
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Victoria AUSTRALIA

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Fax : 61 - 3 - 9347 1768

Email: c.burnett@asialink.unimelb.edu.au