The Chalukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c6.s5.3

c6.s5.3

Bijjala, becoming alarmed, attempted to arrest Basava, who, however, escaped, and, gathering adherents, completely defeated the king who had advanced against him. The death of the latter was brought about either by poison or open assassination. Basava's triumph was short-lived, for, dreading the punishment of the young king, he fled pursued by the latter, and, in despair, threw himself into a well and perished. Such is the Jaina account. The Liṅgāyats, however, assert that he was absorbed into the *liṅga* at the temple of Sanga-mēśvara at the junction of the Kṛiṣhṇa and Malaprabhā rivers. The new sect found a new and, perhaps, more capable leader in the person of Channabasava, the son of a sister of Basava.