Question

Who is known as the father of Vachana.

Answer 1

Hint: -Vachana Sahitya is a type of rhythmic writing in Kannada that developed as part of the Sharana movement in the $11^{th}$ century CE and flourished in the $12^{th}$ century.
-Allama Prabhu was a Kannada language mystic-saint and Vachana poet (called Vachanakara) of the $12^{th}$-century.
-Approximately 22,000 Vachanas have been published. Samagra Vachana Samputa has been published by the Government of Karnataka in 15 volumes.

Complete answer: The father of Vachana Sahitya is considered to be Dr Phakirappa Gurubasappa Halakatti. Dr Phakirappa Gurubasappa Halakatti was a writer of Kannada and an Indian scholar. He was known for the Vachana Sahitya resurrection. On July 2, 1880, Dr Phakeerappa Halakatti was born in Dharwad to Gurubasappa and Danamma. He graduated from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, with a BA degree in 1902 and continued his studies and graduated in 1904 with an LLB degree. He is considered as the founding father of the educational trust named BLDEA, Bijapur. When he visited Sri Shivalingappa Manchale, Dr P.G. Halakatti came across a few bundles of Vachanas written in the palm leaves. There he had the chance to see the 'Prabhudeva Vachana' and 'Shatsthala Thilaka' palm-leaf manuscripts. After that, he was profoundly inspired by them and devoted his life to the revival of Vachana Sahitya. He started the printing press 'Hitha Chinthaka' to publish the collected manuscripts. He launched 'Shiv Anubhava' Kannada newspaper and 'Shiv Anubhava Granthamale' in order to support Vachana Sahitya. Also, he started a weekly called 'Navakarnataka' in1927, for publishing articles related to political, social, educational and jobs. Karnatak University, acknowledging the service of Sri Halakatti to literature, awarded him the degree of Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) in November 1953. Dr P. G. Halakatti was elected in Bellary in 1926 as the president of the Kannada Sahitya Sammelana (Kannada literature conference).

Note: -Madara Chennaiah, a cobbler-saint of the $11^{th}$ century who lived during the reign of the Western Chalukyas and who is known as the father of Vachana poetry" by some scholars.
-The first proponent of lingayatism is considered to be Jedara Dasimayya, who lived in the mid-$10^{th}$ century.
-Later poets, such as Basavanna(1160), Lingayatism's founder, King Bijjala II, prime minister of Southern Kalachuri, regarded Chennaiah as his inspiration.