Previous Year Question

Statement 1 is correct. The Siddhas or Sittars of the Tamil region belonged to a mystical religious tradition. Instead of emphasizing external religious observances, they stressed the individual's inner realization of the ultimate reality. The Siddha tradition treated the ultimate reality as one and criticised idol worship, ritualism and external religious formalism.

This understanding does not rest solely on modern interpretation. Siddhar poetry itself constitutes important internal literary evidence. Verses associated particularly with Sivavakkiyar contain strong criticism of temple-centred ritualism, image worship and caste distinctions. The precise dating of individual Siddhar poets and compositions is debated among scholars, so a particular verse should not automatically be treated as a securely dated contemporary document; nevertheless, the Siddhar poetic corpus is an important primary literary basis for identifying their anti-ritual and anti-idolatry outlook.

Statement 2 is also correct. In twelfth-century Karnataka, the Virashaiva/Lingayat movement developed under the leadership of Basavanna. His followers came to be known as Virashaivas or Lingayats. They worshipped Shiva in the form of the linga but challenged the ideas of caste and ritual pollution embedded in the Brahmanical social order. They also questioned the theory of rebirth.

According to Lingayat belief, after death the devotee is united with Shiva and does not return to this world. Consequently, they did not follow the cremation rites prescribed in the Dharmashastras and instead ceremonially buried their dead.