Bhakta Kanakadasa (1508 AD to 1606 AD) is a mystic poet in the Haridasa tradition of Karnataka. The life history of this great leader of the Bhakti tradition is filled with adventures and miracles. He was also a revolutionary who led socio-religious movement against the caste system. But today he is famous for his Kirtanas, short songs, that unmask the hypocrisy in society. Birth He was born in the Dasa tribe at Kaginele in Dharward District, Karnataka. Kuruba community also claims him as their ancestor. Village Chief The popular belief is that he was the village chief of Bada and renounced worldly comforts because of losses in family and humiliation in battle. Education – Bhakti Vyasaraya, a contemporary of Purandaradasa, initiated him into neo-Vaishanavism. He was the greatest exponent of the Haridasa tradition in poetry and song, which characterized the medieval Kannada literature. He was a wandering mendicant and visited popular shrine of his period in Tirupa