Bhakti movement

Alwars: Saints denoted to Vishnu

Nayanars: Saints devoted towards Shiva
These followers came from untouchable castes. There were 63 Nayanars in which
there was only 1 saint woman (Andal) and she claimed herself to be a balneal of
Lord Vishnu.
In medieval India it was the caste system that was rigid and inflexible. It created
extreme inequalities among the various sections of the society. Hinduism was
both regarded as a religion and the social framework that governed the lives of
Hindus. The essence of Bhakti movement is the union of human soul with the
Supreme Being through devotion. Those who worship Vishnu were regarded as
Vaishnavas, the one worshipped Shiva were termed as Shivas and who were the
goddesses of power (Durga) were known as Saptas.
Bhakti shares with popular Hinduism, the basic rituals of worship of the ideals in
the form of images. The Sanskrit term bhakti is most often translated as devotion
of bhakti marg. Bhakti is the divine human relationship as experienced from the
human side. Ishta deva is regarded as the personal God of the devotees of Bhakti
movement.
The particular form of relationship between the god and the devotees has been
called as Viraha bhakti. This Viraha bhakti was seen in Mirabai. The 2 main pillars
of the Bhakti movement were love and meditation. The meditation has basically 2
forms.
 One is Sagun Bhakti (with idol worship)
 Other is Nirguna Bhakti (without idol worship)
The bhakti movement started in the 8th century in southern India by Alvars and
Nayanars who came from all the castes including those considered as
untouchables. They drew upon the ideals of love and heroism as found in Sangam
literature.
There were 63 Nayanars who belonged to the different caste backgrounds such as
potters, hunters, soldiers etc. There were 12 alvars who came from equally
divergent backgrounds. Between 10-12th century, the Cholas and the Pandayas,
King built elaborate temples around many of the shrines visited by saints-poets
strengthening the links between Bhakti tradition and temple worship. During this
time various poems were compiled and religious biographies of Alvars and
Nayanars were written out. As the famous Gujarati saint Narsi Mehta said, “they
are vaishnavas who understand the pains of others”
The Nathpanthis, the Siddhacharyas and the Yogis believe in the concepts of
Moksh. To them the part two salvation lay in meditation on the formless ultimate
reality and the realization of oneness with it. To achieve this they advocated the
intense training of mind and the body through the practices like the Yoga Aasan,
breathing exercises and meditation. They became quite popular among the lower
caste of the society.
During the 12th century we see the rise of yet another tradition called as Lingayats
that developed in the Southern India. From the south of India we find that the
Bhakti tradition spread to central and northern India. In central India particularly
in the Marathi belt, Krishna and Bhakti finds its strong roots. The most famous
saint Tukaram. He and his followers worshipped Krishna in the form of Vitobha or
Vithala.
Shankar Sharya was born in Kerela in 8th century. He was an advocate of Advatia,
the doctrine of oneness of the individual soul and the supreme god which is the
ultimate reality. The saints of Maharashtra sang the poems in the simple Marathi
to inspire the people. Important among them were Namdev, Eknath, and
Tukaram as well as the women like Sakubai who belonged to the family of
Chokamela who belongs to the untouchables (Mahakars).
The major or the most prominent saints that we know about are Mirabai, Kabir,
Tulsidas and Chetanya. The Bhakti movement reached further to North East and
was carried out in Assam where the Metheis are the local tribes of Assam and are
regarded as Vaishnavas. Shankra deva was born in Assam and was one of the
most important sages of Assam. He’d spread the light of Naamdharam and
dispelled the darkness of ignorance, superstitions and ignorance. He set up the
prayer house called as Naam ghar or Kirtan ghar.
In the north particularly in Kashmir, we find that the Shiv Bhaktis are most
prominent. The propounder of Shiv Bhakti was Abhinav Gupta.
History Notes
Sufism

Sufism
Suf means wool
Safa means purity it is also referred to carpet cuz on it the saint sits and it is
considered pure that is why they sit

Sima means music

Hospice/khanqah place where sufis sit and preach their teachings
Murids is the disciple
Successor is the khalifa

Silsilahs are the orders

There are 16 orders but we’ll do only 4
Pir is the head

J.S Trimingham
Khanqah
Tariqa the way of living second stage
Last stage taifa stage when buried in the stage

How to go about sufism

The meaning of sufism
The Sufis did not form a single organized sect, they neither have a sacred book
nor a unified code of religious doctrines.
Other name of Sufism is TASSUWFA in course of time they have absorbed various
ideas and practices and practices from other religion such as Christianity,
Buddhism, and Indian philosophical system.
Sufism in its developed state was a stream which gathered volume by the joining
of tributaries from many lands.
Like the Bhakti school, the Sufis also believe in the oneness of the soul with the
supreme power
The various ideas and the practices of the Sufi saints were
1. Worship of God
2. Faith in one God and its omnipresence
3. Renounced the worldly pleasures
4. Believes in non-violence and pacifism
5. Universal brotherhood
6. Importance of the Murshid(disciples) a person who has no religious guide
through whom he can communicate with Godi, the Pir is the ladder which enables
a man to reach the goal of life, it is through the Pir alone that one can attain the
knowledge
7. Principles of morality not lie not steal etc.
8. The importance of singing and dancing.

Silsilhas (orders)
Chisthi order-
First saint for the Chisthi order in India was Shailk Muinuddin Chisthi who is
popularly known as Khwaja, many persons of high status were drawn by his
teachings and his sect acquired a considerable he was buried in Ajmer
The khwaja had many disciples but the most important among them were Shaikh
Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar and Shaikh Fariduddin known as baba farid then Shaikh
Nizamuddin Auliya and so on.
The Sufi saints built their religious shrines Khanqah(s) at many places in the
country
Khanqahs was a large a building where the saints and their disciples resided, they
dine together whatever food they received in charity the management of each
Khanqah was entrusted to an Old and trusted follower by the Pir. They observed
fast during the month of Ramzan
Sufi Shaikh appointed his successor (khalifa) during his lifetime. They came to
practicing Hinduism they did breathing, meditation Yoga etc.

Surhawardi order
Was established in India by Sheikh Bahauddin Zakariya of Multan. He was the
most prominent Sufi saint of the Surhawardi order, he led a balanced and a
comfortable life giving much care to his body and spirit
The Surhawardi and the Chisthi order deferred in respect of religious practices as
also in their attitude towards secular activities
The surhawardi sufis took greater care of the families and devoted more time to
the upbringing and training of the sons than the Chisthi, the surhawardis helped
their living in Luxury and active participation in political affairs were not a
hindrance to spiritual progress. They held high offices in the Government,
maintained the contact with the royal court and get aloof from the masses, the
Chisthi on the other hand declined all kinds of gift from the officials and did not
accept the services of the state besides, the Chisthi attached much significance to
music or sama for spiritual attainments but the Surhawardis were against it both
these orders progressed during the rule of Delhi Sultanate.
Qadri
The best known saint of the Qadri sect in the Punjab was Hazrat Mir who laid the
foundation stone Golden Temple of Amritsar.

Naqshbandi
Originated in Central Asia, one of the Naqshbandi saint Shaikh Ahmed Sirhindi
was an orthodox Muslim, he was opposed to the Mughal emperor that is
Akbar(Religious tolerance) another important saint Hazrat Saidi Ahmed was yet
another renowned Sufi, he was also called as Lakhdata, he attracted the followers
from the Hindus as well as from the Muslims.

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS
Q1. Meaning of Bhakti movement
Q2. Causes of Bhakti movement
Q3. Bhakti movement in Southern India
Q4. Bhakti movement in Northern India
Q5. Bhakti Movement in Eastern India
Q6. Bhakti Movement in Western India
Q7. Different saints of Bhakti movement like Kalus, Tulsidas, Mirabai, Chetanya,
Chandracharya etc.