Bhima Kavi, a famous 14th century Kannada poet associated with Virashaivism, is known for his Basava Purana. Though two more works – Bhimakavisvara Ragale and Bhringi Dandaka – are said to be his compositions, they are not available now.
Basava Purana of Bhima Kavi is almost a translation of the
Telugu work of the same name by Palkurike Somanatha, who wrote it in the latter
part of the 13th century CE. Bhima Kavi explicitly states that he finished writing
Basava Purana in 1369 CE; therefore, he lived in the latter part of the 14th
century CE.
Bhima Kavi says that the author of the original Telugu work,
Palkurike Somanatha, himself appeared in his dream and asked him to render this
work into Kannada. However, the Kannada Basava Purana is not only a translation;
it is a transcreation. This is the first Virashaiva Purana. This work has
Basavanna as the central character, and is full of anecdotes about the
Shivasaranas (devotees of Shiva).
Basava Purana of Bhima Kavi glorifies the stature of
Basavanna as a divine character, capable of doing miraculous things. Thus the
hero, a revolutionary one at that, at the age of eight, argues with his father
with quotations from Vedas. He became an eminent scholar of Vedas. Bsavanna
lived a simple and austere life. He was against the stratification of people on
the basis of caste. He was a religious leader and a social reformer.
In Basava Purana, Bhimakavi has added 900 verses to the
original which hold together the stories pertaining to several devotees.