With reference to the cultural history of medieval India, consider the following statements: 1. Siddhas (Sittars) of Tamil region were monotheistic and condemned idolatry. 2. Lingayats of Kannada region questioned the theory of rebirth and rejected the caste hierarchy. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Both statements hold, so the answer is C. The question tests doctrinal radicalism in two south Indian movements.

• Statement 1 is correct. The Siddhars (Sittars) of the Tamil region, linked to the Tamil Shaiva tradition, rejected temple and idol worship and taught a single, formless supreme reality, often located within the body. Their verse, with its stress on yoga, medicine and alchemy, is the usual reference point.
• Statement 2 is correct. Lingayats, or Virashaivas, founded in twelfth-century Karnataka around Basavanna, wore the ishtalinga, rejected Vedic ritual, caste pollution and birth-based status. They also questioned rebirth and karma-driven transmigration, holding that a devotee who has realised Shiva attains union in this life.

The Mains angle is social reform: these movements challenged Brahmanical orthodoxy through the vernacular, which connects to the bhakti discussion and to how dissent shaped caste and gender relations.

Trap: Aspirants often mark statement 2 as wrong by equating Lingayats with orthodox Shaivism, or they assume all Tamil saints were devotional Vaishnava or Shaiva figures and forget that the Siddhars were a separate, anti-ritual current.