Akka Mahadevi

Mahadevi was a 12th century Hindu poet whose dispute with her authoritarian husband sparked a public exposure that tops Lady Godiva’s ride.  Godiva rode through Coventry in the buff to protest her husband’s cruel taxes on the poor.  The story also created the legend of “peeping tom” a  tailor who dared to look.  Mahadevi was bolder and apparently didn’t care who looked as she walked naked through India talking philosophy.  In one poem she is critical of the virtue of modesty.