Akka Mahadevi (ಅಕ್ಕ ಮಹಾದೇವಿ) was a prominent figure of the VeerashaivaBhakti movement in the 12th Century Karnataka.
The term 'Akka' (elder Sister) is bestowed in respect. She is said to have accepted Lord Shiva ('Chenna Mallikarjuna') as her mystical husband (this is similar to Meera).
Much about her life is not known. She is believed to have disappeared in the banana groves at Shreeshaila, in Andhra Pradesh while in ecstasy.
Her contribution to KannadaBhakti literature includes several Vachanas, a form of poetry.
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Who is Akka (http://www.ourkarnataka.com/religion/akka_mathapati.htm)
AkkaMahadevi (ಅಕ್ಕ ಮಹಾದೇವಿ) Born to Nirmala and Sumati in Udatadi (or Udugani) near the ancient city of Banavasi (in Shikaripura taluk Shimoga district) in a Shiva temple was a prominent figure of the VeerashaivaBhakti movement in 12th century Karnataka.
Yet the term 'Akka' (elder Sister) which is an honorific given to her by great Veerashaiva saints like Basavanna, Cenna Basavanna, Kinnari Bommayya, Siddharama, Allamaprabhu and Dasimayya speaks volumes of her contribution to Kannada literature and the history of Karnataka.
Akka was a revelation here in that she not only rose for emancipation but also has sung vachanas which are so simple but of highest order.
This is just one of the poems MahadeviAkka, the 12th Century Kannada mystic poet composed, eight hundred years before American women began burning their bras in public as an expression of rebellion against male-defined norms of female beauty.
MahadeviAkka informs Dutta "challenged social norms and discarded traditional notions of femininity in ways explosive enough to shock both men and women of her time.
For Akka, the shedding of clothes and wandering around naked in search of Lord Shiva (Chennamallikarjuna in Kannada) was a mark of protest against the sexual claims made on her body by the local king who might or might not have been her husband.
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