Revannath of the Navnath
Revannath, also Revan Siddha and Revananath, is counted among the Navnath, the nine masters, in the Maharashtrian tradition.
Where he is placed
The Krishna river country, in the region where Maharashtra and Karnataka meet, around Kolhapur and southward.
And his name is connected to Renuka.
The accounts have him found or born at a Renuka shrine on the river, which is where the name is usually derived from, and Renuka is the mother of Parashurama and a goddess with a very large following across the Deccan, worshipped at Mahur in Maharashtra and at Saundatti Yellamma in Karnataka.
His principal institution
The Kaneri Math, also the Siddhagiri Math, at Kaneri near Kolhapur.
And this is not a ruin or a memory. It is a large, functioning monastic institution, headed by a line of pontiffs carrying the title Kadasiddheshwar, with substantial land, a working community and a great deal of activity.
And it has a museum, which is worth going to see
The Siddhagiri Gramjivan Museum, at the Kaneri math, is a large open air reconstruction of rural Maharashtrian village life before mechanisation.
Life size figures, in sequence, showing the crafts and occupations of a village: the potter, the blacksmith, the weaver, the oil presser, the carpenter, the farmer at each stage of the agricultural year, the schoolteacher, the healer.
Which sounds like a curiosity and is doing something more useful than that.
It is a record of an economy that has almost gone. The occupations shown are hereditary craft occupations that supported village life for centuries and that are now mostly not viable, and a generation is growing up in India that has never seen most of them done.
And a monastery built it, which is the interesting part: a religious institution decided that the thing most worth preserving in its region was the ordinary working life of the people around it.
On the Navnath list, once
Since this batch keeps referring to it, the honest position should be stated.
The nine are not a fixed list.
Different texts and different regions give different names. The Maharashtrian list, the one this batch mostly follows, usually runs: Matsyendranath, Gorakhnath, Jalandharnath, Kanifnath, Gahininath, Bhartrinath, Revannath, Charpatinath, and Naganath or Nageshnath.
And other lists substitute Adbangnath, Vatsiddhanath, Chaurangi and others.
Which is normal for a tradition of this kind. The Naths were not an organised order with a registry for most of their history, they were scattered lineages of wandering practitioners, and the lists were compiled later by people organising a memory.
And the number nine is doing the same work as the sixteen samskaras and the eighty four siddhas: it is a conventional completeness rather than a count.
The Other Revanasiddha
And now the part this entry exists for, and it needs care.
There is a Revanasiddha in a different tradition entirely.
The Panchacharyas
In the Veerashaiva tradition, five acharyas are held to have appeared from the five faces of Shiva, each establishing a seat, a peetha:
- Revanasiddha, at Rambhapuri, Balehonnur, Karnataka
- Marulasiddha, at Ujjaini, Karnataka
- Ekorama, at Kedarnath
- Panditaradhya, at Srisailam
- Vishwaradhya, at Kashi
And these are the Pancha Peethas, five monastic seats with continuing lines of pontiffs, and they are substantial institutions with large followings.
Is this the same figure
They are different claims and this app is not going to merge them.
The Nath Revannath is one of nine wandering siddhas in a tradition that comes out of eastern India and spread west, whose lineage runs from Matsyendranath and whose material is the hatha yoga and Kaula inheritance.
The Veerashaiva Revanasiddha is one of five acharyas said to have emerged from the faces of Shiva to establish the peethas, in a tradition with its own scriptures, its own theology of shatsthala, the six stages, and its own institutional history in the Kannada country.
Local traditions in the Maharashtra Karnataka border region do connect them, and the same shrine is in some places claimed by both, which is what happens when two traditions with overlapping geography have a figure of the same name.
And this app's position is to describe both and adjudicate neither.
A necessary note on the Veerashaiva and Lingayat question
Because this is live, and it is political, and an app that mentions the Panchacharyas without saying so would be leaving readers unprepared.
There are two accounts of where this tradition comes from, and they are held by different constituencies:
One. That it originates with Basavanna in twelfth century Kalyana, as a reform movement against caste, ritual and temple religion, whose literature is the vachanas and whose figures include Akka Mahadevi, Allama Prabhu and Devara Dasimayya, all of whom have entries in this series.
Two. That it is far older, that the Panchacharyas and the Pancha Peethas precede Basavanna, and that Basavanna revived and reorganised something already there.
And there is a further question, distinct from that one, about whether Lingayat is a separate religion or a Hindu tradition, which has been a live political and legal question in Karnataka, has been to government and to courts, and on which the communities themselves are divided.
What this app does
Describes the positions and does not take one.
Vandnaa's entries on Basavanna, Akka Mahadevi, Allama Prabhu and Devara Dasimayya treat them on their own terms, as figures of enormous importance whose vachanas are among the great things in Indian literature.
And this entry describes the Panchacharya tradition as its own adherents describe it.
And it is not this app's business to tell a community what it is.
Which is the general rule this series has followed throughout: report what each tradition says about itself, note where the accounts conflict, say plainly where the evidence is thin on all sides, and do not use a devotional app to settle a dispute that the people whose dispute it is have not settled.
Where to go
- Kaneri, near Kolhapur, Maharashtra: the Siddhagiri Math and the village museum
- Rambhapuri, Balehonnur, Chikkamagaluru district, Karnataka, for the Veerashaiva peetha
- Mahur, Maharashtra, and Saundatti, Karnataka, for Renuka
- Kolhapur, for Mahalakshmi, which this app has an entry on
What to Take From This Entry
One. The same name is not the same claim.
Two large traditions in the same part of India hold a figure called Revanasiddha, and they mean genuinely different things by it: one is a wandering siddha in a yogic lineage from eastern India, and one is an acharya said to have emerged from a face of Shiva to found a monastic seat.
And it is very common. Indian religious history is full of shared names, shared shrines and shared figures claimed by more than one tradition, and this batch has already met it twice: Matsyendranath as both a Nath and a bodhisattva in Nepal, and Jalandharipa as both a Nath and a Buddhist Mahasiddha.
And the useful habit is to ask which tradition is speaking before deciding what a name means.
Two. The lists are conventional.
The nine Naths are not a fixed nine. Different texts and regions give different names, because the Naths were scattered lineages of wandering practitioners rather than an organised order with a registry, and the lists were compiled afterwards by people organising a memory.
Which is true of most such lists: the sixteen samskaras, the eighty four siddhas, the sixty three Nayanars, the twelve alvars. The number is a shape rather than a count, and treating it as an inventory produces confusion.
Three. Do not use an app to settle somebody else's dispute.
The Veerashaiva and Lingayat question is live, political and legal, the communities are divided on it themselves, and this app describes the positions and does not take one.
Which is the general rule this series has followed: report what each tradition says about itself, note where accounts conflict, say plainly where evidence is thin, and leave the settling to the people whose business it is.
Four. The museum at Kaneri.
A monastery decided that the thing most worth preserving in its region was the ordinary working life of the people around it, and built a life size record of village crafts and occupations before mechanisation.
And that is a genuinely unusual choice for a religious institution to make, and it is worth a visit, and the reason is that a generation is growing up in India that has never seen a potter, an oil presser or a village blacksmith at work.
A daily practice from this entry:
- Om Namah Shivaya, or Alakh Niranjan, which is the Nath call
- Renuka or Yellamma, if she is your family's goddess
- And the habit this entry recommends: when you meet a name in a religious context, ask which tradition is using it before you decide what it means
The Short Version
Revannath of the Navnath: counted among the nine masters in the Maharashtrian Nath tradition, placed in the Krishna river country where Maharashtra and Karnataka meet, around Kolhapur and southward. The accounts have him found or born at a Renuka shrine on the river, which is where the name is usually derived from, Renuka being the mother of Parashurama and a goddess with a very large Deccan following, worshipped at Mahur in Maharashtra and Saundatti Yellamma in Karnataka.
Kaneri: his principal institution is the Kaneri Math, also the Siddhagiri Math, near Kolhapur, headed by a line of pontiffs carrying the title Kadasiddheshwar, and it is a large functioning monastic institution rather than a ruin. It has the Siddhagiri Gramjivan Museum, a large open air reconstruction of rural Maharashtrian village life before mechanisation, with life size figures showing the potter, blacksmith, weaver, oil presser, carpenter, farmer at each stage of the year, schoolteacher and healer. It is a record of an economy that has almost gone, since those hereditary craft occupations supported village life for centuries and are now mostly not viable, and a generation is growing up in India that has never seen most of them done. A monastery decided that the thing most worth preserving in its region was the ordinary working life of the people around it.
On the Navnath list: the nine are not a fixed list. Different texts and regions give different names, and the Maharashtrian list usually runs Matsyendranath, Gorakhnath, Jalandharnath, Kanifnath, Gahininath, Bhartrinath, Revannath, Charpatinath and Naganath, while others substitute Adbangnath, Vatsiddhanath, Chaurangi and more. That is normal, since the Naths were scattered lineages of wandering practitioners rather than an organised order with a registry, and the lists were compiled later by people organising a memory. The number nine is a conventional completeness rather than a count, as with the sixteen samskaras and the eighty four siddhas.
The other Revanasiddha: in the Veerashaiva tradition, five acharyas are held to have appeared from the five faces of Shiva, each establishing a peetha: Revanasiddha at Rambhapuri, Marulasiddha at Ujjaini, Ekorama at Kedarnath, Panditaradhya at Srisailam and Vishwaradhya at Kashi. These are the Pancha Peethas, substantial institutions with continuing lines of pontiffs. It is a different claim from the Nath Revannath and this app does not merge them, though local traditions in the border region do connect them and some shrines are claimed by both.
The Veerashaiva and Lingayat question: there are two accounts of where the tradition comes from, one placing its origin with Basavanna in twelfth century Kalyana as a reform movement whose literature is the vachanas, and one holding the Panchacharyas and Pancha Peethas to precede him, with Basavanna reviving something already there. There is a further and distinct question about whether Lingayat is a separate religion or a Hindu tradition, which has been live politically and legally in Karnataka and on which the communities are themselves divided. This app describes the positions and takes none, which is the rule this series follows throughout: report what each tradition says about itself, note where accounts conflict, say plainly where evidence is thin, and leave the settling to the people whose business it is.
What People Ask Most
Who was Revannath?+
One of the Navnath, the nine masters of the Maharashtrian Nath tradition, also called Revan Siddha and Revananath, placed in the Krishna river country where Maharashtra and Karnataka meet, around Kolhapur and southward. The accounts have him found or born at a Renuka shrine on the river, which is where the name is usually derived from. His principal institution is the Kaneri Math, also called the Siddhagiri Math, near Kolhapur, headed by a line of pontiffs carrying the title Kadasiddheshwar, and it is a large functioning monastic institution today.
Are the nine Naths a fixed list?+
No. Different texts and different regions give different names. The Maharashtrian list, which this batch mostly follows, usually runs Matsyendranath, Gorakhnath, Jalandharnath, Kanifnath, Gahininath, Bhartrinath, Revannath, Charpatinath and Naganath or Nageshnath, while other lists substitute Adbangnath, Vatsiddhanath, Chaurangi and others. That is normal for a tradition of this kind, since the Naths were not an organised order with a registry for most of their history but scattered lineages of wandering practitioners, and the lists were compiled later by people organising a memory. The number nine is doing the same work as the sixteen samskaras and the eighty four siddhas: it is a conventional completeness rather than a count.
Who are the Panchacharyas?+
In the Veerashaiva tradition, five acharyas held to have appeared from the five faces of Shiva, each establishing a peetha or seat: Revanasiddha at Rambhapuri in Balehonnur, Karnataka; Marulasiddha at Ujjaini, Karnataka; Ekorama at Kedarnath; Panditaradhya at Srisailam; and Vishwaradhya at Kashi. These are the Pancha Peethas, five monastic seats with continuing lines of pontiffs, and they are substantial institutions with large followings. This is a different claim from the Nath Revannath, who is one of nine wandering siddhas in a yogic lineage from eastern India, and this app describes both and merges neither, though local traditions in the Maharashtra Karnataka border region do connect them and some shrines are claimed by both.
Where does the Veerashaiva tradition come from?+
There are two accounts, held by different constituencies, and this app describes both and takes neither. One places the origin with Basavanna in twelfth century Kalyana, as a reform movement against caste, ritual and temple religion, whose literature is the vachanas and whose figures include Akka Mahadevi, Allama Prabhu and Devara Dasimayya, all of whom have entries in this series. The other holds that it is far older, that the Panchacharyas and the Pancha Peethas precede Basavanna, and that Basavanna revived and reorganised something already there. There is a further and distinct question about whether Lingayat is a separate religion or a Hindu tradition, which has been a live political and legal question in Karnataka and on which the communities themselves are divided. It is not this app's business to tell a community what it is.
What is the museum at Kaneri?+
The Siddhagiri Gramjivan Museum at the Kaneri Math near Kolhapur, a large open air reconstruction of rural Maharashtrian village life before mechanisation, with life size figures shown in sequence: the potter, the blacksmith, the weaver, the oil presser, the carpenter, the farmer at each stage of the agricultural year, the schoolteacher and the healer. It sounds like a curiosity and is doing something more useful, since it is a record of an economy that has almost gone: those hereditary craft occupations supported village life for centuries and are now mostly not viable, and a generation is growing up in India that has never seen most of them done. A monastery built it, which is the interesting part, since a religious institution decided that the thing most worth preserving in its region was the ordinary working life of the people around it.
Why do the same names appear in different traditions?+
Because Indian religious history is full of shared names, shared shrines and shared figures claimed by more than one tradition, and this batch alone has met it three times: Matsyendranath as both a Nath and, in Nepal, the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara; Jalandharipa as both a Nath and a Buddhist Mahasiddha; and Revanasiddha as both a Nath and a Veerashaiva acharya. The useful habit is to ask which tradition is speaking before deciding what a name means, since the same name is not the same claim. Two large traditions in the same part of India hold a figure called Revanasiddha and mean genuinely different things by it: one a wandering siddha in a yogic lineage from eastern India, and one an acharya said to have emerged from a face of Shiva to found a monastic seat.
About the author
Pandit Ravindra Sharma · Vedic Rituals & Bhakti, 22+ years
Pandit Ravindra is the Vandnaa editorial team's resident specialist on aarti, chalisa, and daily devotion. He has performed home and temple pujas across Varanasi and Delhi for over two decades and contributes the bhakti-focused articles on this site.
Meet the Vandnaa editorial team →