Member of a Hindu sect that worships Shiva as the only deity.
It has a wide following in southern India. Its followers take their name ("linga-wearers") from the small bhakti (devotion) as an intuitive and loving knowledge of God show the influence of Ramanuja . They reject Brahma and the authority of the {{link=Veda">Vedas ; their opposition to child marriage and the ill-treatment of widows anticipated the social reform movements of the 19th century.