Akka Mahadevi was one of the foremost Bhakti saints of India. She belonged to the Lingayat sect of Karnataka and lived near Shivamogga between 1130-1160 CE. Her 430 extant Vachana poems (a form of spontaneous mystical poems), and two short writings,  Mantrogopya and the Yogangatrividh, are considered her most notable contribution to Kannada literature. Akka Mahadevi got the title as she was considered to be the elder for other Kannada saints such as Basavanna, Allamaprabhu and Siddharama.