Once more, Karnataka is set for an “orange” versus “saffron” battle. In 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then chief minister B S Yediyurappa began the task of cohering Basava’s Anubhava Mantapa to “Sanatana Pragatipara”, a progressive Hinduism. But many important Lingayat Swamis have held on to Basava’s 12th century rebellion as marking not only the repudiation of Brahminical Hinduism …
