Vachanas

What are vachanas? Octets (8 lines) in Kannada composed by Shaivite followers. Basavanna, Akka Mahadevi are some of the well-known vachana composers.
Vachanas reflect intense bhakthi of Shiva in simple soul-stirring lyrics and are original pieces of literature of the 12th century. They are often referred to as the Bible of the Shaivite community (Vaishnavism spread around the same period) and the simple language and poetic beauty of the vachanas were appealing to the  masses.