Kanaka DasaKanaka Dasa (1509–1609) was a Haridasa saint and philosopher, popularly called Daasashreshta Kanakadasa (ದಾಸಶ್ರೇಷ್ಠ ಕನಕದಾಸ). He was a renowned composer of Carnatic music, poet, reformer and musician. He is known for his keertanas and ugabhoga, and his compositions in the Kannada language for Carnatic music. Like other Haridasas, he used simple Kannada and native metrical forms for his compositions. Kanaka Dasa was born into a Kannada Kuruba (shepherd) family in Baada village, near Bankapura in Karnataka, and was a warrior at the Bankapura fort.
Krishna Deva RayaKrishnadevarâya Tuluva était un roi hindou de la (1505 – 1565). Il dirige pendant vingt ans (1509 – 1529) le royaume de Vijayanâgara qui connait sous son règne sa plus grande extension et un épanouissement économique et culturel exceptionnel. Krishna Deva Râya le frère de , monte sur le trône le . On le considère comme le plus grand roi Vijayanâgara. En 1512, il s'empare de la forteresse de Raichûr au Bîjâpur. Le râja de l'Orissa Prataparudra (1497 – 1540) entre en conflit avec le Vijayanâgara en attaquant Kânchî.
Vadiraja TirthaSri Vadiraja Teertharu (1480 – 1600) was a Dvaita philosopher, poet, traveller and mystic. A polymath of his time, he authored many works, often polemical, on Madhva theology and metaphysics. Additionally, he composed numerous poems and as the pontiff of Sodhe Mutt, renovated the temple complex at Udupi and established the Paryaya system of worship. He is also credited with enriching the Kannada literature of the time by translating Madhvacharya's works to Kannada, giving impetus and contributing to the Haridasa movement.
VishnouismeLe vishnouisme (vaishnavisme) est un courant de l'hindouisme basé sur le système philosophique et religieux du Védanta. Sa pratique est la dévotion (bhakti) envers Vishnou comme Dieu suprême en tant que tel ou à travers ses incarnations Krishna et Rāma. C'est l'une des plus importantes expressions spirituelles de l'hindouisme avec le shivaïsme. Le nom des dévots de la divinité, les vishnouites, est vaishnava (vaiṣṇava en sanskrit ; devanāgarī : वैष्णव), mais il désigne aussi toute chose en relation avec elle.
SripadarajaSripadaraja (श्रीपादराज; ) or Sripadaraya, also known by his pontifical name Lakshminarayana Tirtha (1422 - 1480), was a Hindu Dvaita philosopher, scholar and composer and the pontiff of the Madhvacharya mutt at Mulbagal. He is widely considered the founder of Haridasa movement along with Narahari Tirtha. He has influenced both Carnatic music and Hindustani music through his compositions. His songs and hymns, written under the mudra of Ranga Vitthala, contain the distillation of Dvaita principles infused with mysticism and humanism.
Kannada literatureKannada literature is the corpus of written forms of the Kannada language, a member of the Dravidian family spoken mainly in the Indian state of Karnataka and written in the Kannada script. Attestations in literature span one and a half millennia, with some specific literary works surviving in rich manuscript traditions, extending from the 9th century to the present.
VyasatirthaVyāsatīrtha (. 1460 – 1539), also called Vyasaraja or Chandrikacharya, was a Hindu philosopher, scholar, polemicist, commentator and poet belonging to the Madhwacharya's Dvaita order of Vedanta. As the patron saint of the Vijayanagara Empire, Vyasatirtha was at the forefront of a golden age in Dvaita which saw new developments in dialectical thought, growth of the Haridasa literature under bards like Purandara Dasa and Kanaka Dasa and an amplified spread of Dvaita across the subcontinent.
Narahari TirthaNarahari Tirtha ( 1243 - 1333) was a Dvaita philosopher, scholar, statesman and one of the disciples of Madhvacharya. He is considered to be the progenitor of the Haridasa movement along with Sripadaraja. Though only two of his scholarly works are extant, they are characterised by their verbosity and lack of digressions. A few songs of his survive under the pen name Raghukulatilaka. As a minister of considerable influence to the Eastern Ganga rulers and later as the pontiff of Madhvacharya mutt, Narahari converted the Simhachalam temple into an educational establishment of renown and a religious centre for Vaishnavism.
Vithobathumb|Une image pieuse de la murti (dite Syambhu Vithoba) de Vithoba dans son sanctuaire de Pandharpur. Vithoba (en विठोबा, en ವಿಠೋಬಾ, en విఠోబా, en விதோபர்), également appelée Vitthala ou Panduranga, est une divinité hindoue principalement vénérée en Inde du Sud, essentiellement dans les états du Maharashtra et du Karnataka, et à une moindre mesure en Andhra Pradesh, à Goa, au Télangana et au Tamil Nadu. Son temple principal se trouve dans le Maharashtra à , sur les rives du Bhima ou Chandrabhaga.
BasavaBasava (également connu sous le nom de Basaveshwara, kannada : ಬಸವೇಶ್ವರ, ou Basavanna (ಬಸವಣ್ಣ), 1134–1196) était un important philosophe shivaïte, peut-être fondateur d'une secte shivaïte de premier ordre, chef en tout cas des lingâyat à son époque, un réformateur social hindou, ainsi qu'un poète mystique. Il pratiqua une politique à l'encontre du système de castes et des déviances dans la culture indienne dominante, l'hindouisme. Il est aussi connu comme étant Krantikari (révolutionnaire) Basavanna pour sa réforme dans le système social du .