Akka Mahadevi (c.1130–1160) was one of the early female poets of the Kannada literature. She is seen as an inspirational woman in the history of Karnataka. She considered the god Shiva ('Chenna Mallikarjuna') as her husband, (traditionally understood as the 'madhura bhava' or 'madhurya' form of devotion). Her works frequently use the metaphor of an illicit, or adulterous love to describe her devotion to Chennamallikarjuna (Shiva). The lyrics show Akka Mahadevi actively seeking a relationship with Chennamallikarjuna (Shiva), and touches on themes of abandonment, carnal love and separation. The direct and frank lyrics that Akka Mahadevi wrote have been described as embodying a "radical illegitimacy" that re-examines the role of women as actors with volition and will, behaving in opposition to established social institutions and mores.
At times she uses strong sexual imagery to represent the union between the devotee and the object of devotion. Her works challenge common understandings of sexual identity; for instance, in one vachana she suggests that creation, or the power of the god Shiva, is masculine, while all of creation, including men, represent the feminine.
Mahadevi is said to have refused to wear any clothing—a common practice among male ascetics, but shocking for a woman. Legend has it that due to her true love and devotion with God her whole body was protected by hair.
One of her famous vachana translates as:
People,
male and female,
blush when a cloth covering their shame
comes loose
When the lord of lives
lives drowned without a face
in the world, how can you be modest?
When all the world is the eye of the lord,
onlooking everywhere, what can you
cover and conceal?
