i-he presentbook, ReligiousMovementsin

Medievallndia, attemptsto explorethe Bhakti

movement in MedievalIndia.Beginning fromthe
7th centuryA.D. to the 18thcentury,Medieval
Indiasawa phenomenal outpouringof religiosity
in the vernacularoral traditionson themes
rangingfrom dilemmasof everyday lifeto the
mysteriesof the Universe.Scholars have
focused on the analysis of the texts,
philosophicalconstructsor the societalaspects
enlighteningus withmanyreadings. Whileany
one cannotbe reducedto another,the studyof
Bhakti demands a holistic an integrated
approachdrawinganalyticaltools from many
disciplines.

The 19thcenturysawa rediscovery of many

sacredtextsthatcontributed to the construction
of Hinduismas a monolith.The processof
reducingoralityto textualitysaw the wholesale
standardization of very vibrant,dynamicand
diverse religious practices.Historicallythe
religiousbeliefsand practicesof the Hindus
were too divergentto constitutea coherent,
monolithreligioussystem.A historical gaze at
Hinduism clearlypointsoutthatto viewthis,as a
single religioussystem is not correctand a
distortionof the heterogeneousreligious
practicesof its people. Throughouthistory
alternatespaceshavebeencreatedand Bhakti
was one suchmedium.The oresentbookis an
attemptto explorethismovementin its different
dimensions in variousregionsof India.lt also
highlightsthe attitudeof the male Bhaktasto
womenandthecreationof an alternative space
by the women. Using a variety of sources
inscriptions,and literarytexts the authorhas
tracedthegrowthanddevelopment of theBhakti
movement andshownhowtheideologies, social
basesand organizational structures in different
partsof the countryhavegivena distinctshape
to thismovement. Thisis a valuabletextfor the
undergraduate andpostgraduate students. This
bookwouldbe a usefulsupplement to scholars
workingon the socialand religioushistoryof
medievalIndia.Scholarof religiousstudies,
sociologyand women'sstudieswouldfind this
bookof generalinterestin orderto understand
the religioustraditionsof SouthAsia in all its
diversitv.
 Dr. Rekha Pande is a
facultyin the departmentof
H i s t o r y , U n i v e r s i t yo f
H y d e r a b a d ,I n d i a . S h e
s p e c i a l i z ei n M e d i e v a l
Indian History.Her
o u b l i c a t i o n si n c l u d e
"SuccesslonStrugglein the
Delhi Sultanate"(1990).
B e g i n n i n gw i t h p o l i t i c a l
history,she was branched into agrarian
history,thehistoryof religions, socio-economic
history,culturalhistoryand women'shistory.
Shehaswrittenextensively onthemessuchas
Vaishnavism, Saivism,their socio-economy
context,institutionssuch as temples,land
grants,womentempledancinggirls,miniature
paintingsagrarian structureand womens
historyand publishedin a large numberof
Nationaland International Journals. Currently
sheis involvedin two Projects,namelyWomen
in Bhakti and Science and Technologyin
Medievallndia.

Dr. Pande also works in the area of

Women'sStudies.She is the authorof two
books(withSubhashJoshi),Genderlssuesin
the Police (2000) S.V.P. National Police
Academy,Hyderabad,Child Labour in the
Beedilndustry(1998).Sheis alsotheeditorof
InternationaI Feminist Journal of Politi cs,IFJP,
RoutledgeTaylorand FrancisGroup,UK. ln
Women'sStudiesDr. Pandehas oublished a
large number of articlesin Nationaland
International Journalson Womenand Work.
ChildLabour,Women'sMovement, Violence
andWomenand Globalization. Shehas been
the ProjectDirectorof FifteenProjectsandten
consultancies. She has deliveredlecturesin
Universities in Zambia,Zimbabwe,Nigeria,
Uganda,Australia,Japan,China,Malaysia,
Singapore, Taipei,UK and USA.She is also
the recipientof the InternationalVisiting
Fellowship, University of Bristol,UK.

fSBN: 81-212-OBTS_O
 Introduction
OriginsandHistoriograplry
of the Movement
Backgroundof the Movement-materialbasis
BhaktiMovement in SouthernRegions
BhaktiMovementin NorthernRegions
BhaktiMovementin Western,Easternand
North EasternRegions
MaleBhakta'sAttitudeTowards Women
Alternative
Spacefor Womenin the Bhakti
Movement
Conclusions