View source for Kalamukha

{{Short description|Medieval-era Shaivite sect in the Deccan Plateau}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2016}}
{{Saivism|expanded=Schools}}
The '''Kalamukha''' were a [[Medieval India|medieval]] [[Shaivism|Shaivite]] sect of the [[Deccan Plateau]] who were among the first professional [[monk]]s of India. Their earliest [[monastery|monasteries]] were built in [[Mysore district|Mysore]].{{sfnp|Nandi|1973|p=85|ps=}}

== Origin and etymology ==
Information regarding the Kalamukha sect takes the form of inscriptions relating to temple grants and texts usually written by their opponents. They appear to have been an offshoot of the [[Pashupata Shaivism|Pashupata sect]], about whom more is known.{{sfnp|Lorenzen|1972|pp=xi-xii|ps=}} Their name was derived from ''{{IAST|kālāmukha}}'' which has multiple meanings namely,  'facing the time' or 'facing the death' or 'black-face'. Their rituals using "yantras" were more of time based so, we can safely assume the meaning would be one of the first two rather than last one.{{sfnp|Nandi|1973|pp=83-85|ps=}} Evidence from the ''[[Puranas]]'' and similar ancient texts makes it clear that they were also known by other names, such as ''Laguda'', ''Lakula'' and ''Nakula'', and associated with other words meaning ''black-faced'', such as ''Kalanana''.{{sfnp|Lorenzen|1972|p=10|ps=}}

The rise of the Kalamukhas to a position of influence coincided with the popularisation of the ''[[Āgama (Hinduism)|agama]]'' texts of Shaivism, and they are shown in the ''[[Tirumandiram]]'' as one of the six schools of thought to emerge from the ''agamas''.{{efn|The dating of the ''Tirumandiram'' is controversial because little is known of the life of [[Tirumular]], who is purported to have written it.}} Theirs was not, however, a school based purely on the ''agamas'' as they also took heed of the [[Historical Vedic religion|orthodox]] ''[[Śruti]]'' and were well-versed in the [[Vaisheshika]] and [[Nyaya]] schools.{{sfnp|Nandi|1973|pp=83-85|ps=}} The Kalamukhas were themselves subdivided, with at least two divisions, called the Saktiparisad and the Simhaparisad. The former of these were found over a wide-ranging area and the latter were mostly concentrated around the districts of [[Dharwar district|Dharwar]] and [[Shimoga district|Shimoga]].{{sfnp|Lorenzen|1972|p=97|ps=}}

== History ==
According to Ramendra Nath Nandi, the first known record of the Kalamukha sect is a grant issued by the [[Rashtrakuta dynasty]] in 807 CE, although he also refers to the existence of a Kalamukha monastery in Mysore in the 8th century.{{sfnp|Nandi|1973|pp=76, 85|ps=}} Among the references are a Kalamukha temple recorded in [[Srinivaspur]] in 870, another with a college at [[Chitradurga]] in 947, and a monastery and temple at [[Nanjangud]] by 977. Their major centre was at [[Balligavi]] and other temple sites included one at [[Vijayawada]].{{sfnp|Nandi|1973|pp=4-9|ps=}} There is a gap in the recorded evidence of them for around two centuries, after which they are well documented until the [[Vijayanagara Empire|Vijayanagara era]].{{sfnp|Nandi|1973|pp=85, 87|ps=}}

[[Ramanuja]], a [[Vaishnavism|Vaishnavite]] [[acharya]], may have confused the Kalamukha with the [[Kapalika]]s in his ''[[Sri Bhasya]]'' work, in which he noted them as eating from a skull and keeping wine. Such practices were common for the Kapalikas but are atypical for the Kalamukhas. His writings may have been coloured by his experienced of being a member of a different school and being forced by the Kalamukhas and other Shavites to leave his native [[Tamil Nadu]]. There was also possibly a desire to discredit because of an element of fear or jealousy driven by the then rising popularity of the Kalamukhas.{{sfnp|Nandi|1973|pp=85-87|ps=}}{{sfnp|Lorenzen|1972|pp=5-6|ps=}} Nandi notes that: {{quote|the Kalamukhas were a saivite sect of social and religious reformers with a strong social basis, whereas the Kapalikas were a sect of self-seekers practising queer and gruesome rites at the cremation ground, away from human localities.{{sfnp|Nandi|1973|p=86|ps=}}}}

Nonetheless, for many years scholars such as [[R. G. Bhandarkar]] believed the Kalamukhas to be a more extreme sect than the Kapalikas, despite acknowledging that Ramanuja's written accounta were confused. [[David Lorenzen]] believes this error lay in placing emphasis on Ramanuja's skewed written record above that placed on such [[epigraphy|epigraphical]] evidence from inscriptions as had been collated by the time Bhandarkar and others analysed the situation.{{sfnp|Lorenzen|1972|p=xii|ps=}}

== References ==
'''Notes'''
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'''Citations'''
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'''Bibliography'''
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*{{citation |title=Kapalikas and Kalamukhas: Two Lost Saivite Sects |last=Lorenzen |first=David N. |author-link=David Lorenzen |publisher=University of California Press |year=1972 |isbn=978-0-52001-842-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q4hm-k6fKs4C}}
*{{citation |title=Religious Institutions and Cults in the Deccan, c. A.D. 600-A.D. 1000 |first=Ramendra Nath |last=Nandi |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1973 |isbn=978-0-84260-564-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7HRgstuWe6EC}}
{{refend}}

{{Shaivism}}

[[Category:Hindu ascetics]]
[[Category:Shaivism]]
[[Category:Indian Hindu monks]]