BHAKTI MOVEMENT IN SOUTH INDIA

In Tamil Nadu, the Vaishnavite and Shaivite saints of the Bhakti movement are collectively
called Alvars and Nayanars. In all, 12 Alvars and 63 Nayanars were there. Together, they
founded the Tamil Bhakti movement's 75 great poet-saints. In different periods of time, they all
lived and came from diverse social backgrounds. It was, however, a common theme of complete
devotion and submission to their personal god,1
In their designs, the great Vishnu temples mentioned were later grouped together as the 108
Divya Desams and are spread around Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Between the 9th and 10th
centuries CE, the canonization of the 12 saints occurred when their poems were collected
together in a text called Naalayira Divya Prabhandham by a Vaishnava theologian named
Nathamuni. In praise of Vishnu, it comprised four thousand verses.
The 63 saints of the Nayanars were Shiva's followers and existed between the 5th and 10th
centuries. They also existed at various times, like the Alwars, but were bound by their passion
for Shiva. One of the saints, Appar, is said to have turned King Mahendravarman of Pallava into
Shaivism, sometime between 600 and 630 CE. Buddhism and Jainism started to fade as the
rulers became Hindu. The Nayanar poetry and literature compilation is called Tirumurai, which
is a compilation of 12 volumes collected over various periods of time. This consists of 18,426
songs devoted to Shiva by these poet saints,.

For most ordinary citizens, the Bhagwad Gita, written in Sanskrit, was out of control. From
Kannada, Marathi to Maithili, Awadhi, Bhojpuri and Punjabi in the North, the Bhakti movement
unleashed a flood of interpretations of religious literature into regional languages.

In the 12th century, from Tamil Nadu, the movement grew north to Karnataka through
Basavanna 's works, and then through the Varkari movement to Maharashtra in the 13th century
CE.

1
VARKARI MOVEMENT

A new movement in Karnataka, led by a Brahmana named Basavanna (1106-68), who was a
minister in the court of a Kalachuri ruler, emerged in the twelfth century. His disciples were
known as Lingayats or Virashaivas. To date, the Lingayats remain a significant group in the area.
They worship Shiva as a linga in his manifestation, and men usually wear a small linga on a loop
strung over their left shoulder in a silver case.

Jangama, or wandering monks, are those who are revered. Lingayats conclude that the devotee
will be united with Shiva upon death and will not return to this earth. Therefore, they do not
practise the funeral rites prescribed in the Dharmashastras, such as cremation. They ritually bury
their dead instead. The Lingayats questioned the idea of caste and Brahmanas' "pollution"
ascribed to certain groups.

Some practises disapproved by the Dharmashastras, such as post-puberty marriage and the
remarriage of widows, were also encouraged by the Lingayats. Our interpretation of the tradition
of Virashaiva stems from vachanas (literally, sayings) written in Kannada by women and men
who entered the movement..

BHAKTI AND THE SOUTH INDIAN ACHARYAS

The idea of bhakti was defended at the philosophical level by some gifted vaishnava Brahmin
scholars (acharyas) when the influence of the bhakti movement in South India was on the wane.
The first amongst them was Ramanuja (11th century). For bhakti, he offered philosophical
justification. He tried to create a careful balance that was accessible to all between orthodox
Brahmanism and common bhakti. While he did not accept the concept of entry to the Vedas by
the lower castes, he supported bhakti as a mode of worship open to all, including the Sudras and
even the outcastes. He did not observe caste distinctions when spreading bhakti and even sought
to eliminate untouchability. Nimbarka, a Telegu Brahman, is assumed to be a younger person.
The Ramanuja Contemporary. He spent much of his time in Vrindavan, in northern India, near
Mathura. In absolute devotion to Krishna and Radha, he believed. Another philosopher of South
Indian vaishnavite bhakti was Madhava, who was from the 13th century. He did not challenge,
like Ramanuja, the orthodox Brahmanic limitation of the Sudras' Vedic study. He thought that
bhakti offered the Sudras with alternative avenues of worship.

Bhagvat Purana was the foundation of his philosophical system. He is thought to have visited
North India as well. Ramananda2 and Vallabha were the last two major vaishnava acharyas.3

2
Ramananda, from late 14th to early 15th century
3
Vallabha, from late 15th to early 16th