TheKalamukha were amedievalShaivite sect of theDeccan Plateau who were among the first professionalmonks of India. Their earliestmonasteries were built inMysore.^[1]

Information regarding the Kalamukha sect takes the form of inscriptions relating to temple grants and texts usually written by their opponents. They appear to have been an offshoot of thePashupata sect, about whom more is known.^[2] Their name was derived fromkālāmukha which has multiple meanings namely, 'facing the time' or 'facing the death' or 'black-face'. Their rituals using "yantras" were more of time based so, we can safely assume the meaning would be one of the first two rather than last one.^[3] Evidence from thePuranas and similar ancient texts makes it clear that they were also known by other names, such asLaguda,Lakula andNakula, and associated with other words meaningblack-faced, such asKalanana.^[4]

The rise of the Kalamukhas to a position of influence coincided with the popularisation of theagama texts of Shaivism, and they are shown in theTirumandiram as one of the six schools of thought to emerge from theagamas.^[a] Theirs was not, however, a school based purely on theagamas as they also took heed of theorthodoxŚruti and were well-versed in theVaisheshika andNyaya schools.^[3] The Kalamukhas were themselves subdivided, with at least two divisions, called the Saktiparisad and the Simhaparisad. The former of these were found over a wide-ranging area and the latter were mostly concentrated around the districts ofDharwar andShimoga.^[5]

According to Ramendra Nath Nandi, the first known record of the Kalamukha sect is a grant issued by theRashtrakuta dynasty in 807 CE, although he also refers to the existence of a Kalamukha monastery in Mysore in the 8th century.^[6] Among the references are a Kalamukha temple recorded inSrinivaspur in 870, another with a college atChitradurga in 947, and a monastery and temple atNanjangud by 977. Their major centre was atBalligavi and other temple sites included one atVijayawada.^[7] There is a gap in the recorded evidence of them for around two centuries, after which they are well documented until theVijayanagara era.^[8]

Ramanuja, aVaishnaviteacharya, may have confused the Kalamukha with theKapalikas in hisSri Bhasya work, in which he noted them as eating from a skull and keeping wine. Such practices were common for the Kapalikas but are atypical for the Kalamukhas. His writings may have been coloured by his experienced of being a member of a different school and being forced by the Kalamukhas and other Shavites to leave his nativeTamil Nadu. There was also possibly a desire to discredit because of an element of fear or jealousy driven by the then rising popularity of the Kalamukhas.^[9][10] Nandi notes that:

the Kalamukhas were a saivite sect of social and religious reformers with a strong social basis, whereas the Kapalikas were a sect of self-seekers practising queer and gruesome rites at the cremation ground, away from human localities.^[11]

Nonetheless, for many years scholars such asR. G. Bhandarkar believed the Kalamukhas to be a more extreme sect than the Kapalikas, despite acknowledging that Ramanuja's written accounta were confused.David Lorenzen believes this error lay in placing emphasis on Ramanuja's skewed written record above that placed on suchepigraphical evidence from inscriptions as had been collated by the time Bhandarkar and others analysed the situation.^[12]

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Bibliography

• Hindu ascetics
• Shaivism
• Indian Hindu monks

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