The Bhakti Movement

1.1 What is the Bhakti movement?

Bhakti means loving devotion to a personal God. The movement stressed devotion over rituals and priests. It reached ordinary people through songs in their own languages. The poor, the “untouchable” castes and women took part in it.

1.2 When and where did it start?

It began in the Tamil country, in South India. NCERT says the seventh to ninth centuries saw new religious movements led by the Nayanars and Alvars. Some sources place the start around the 6th century CE. Scholars date the Alvars anywhere from the 5th to the 10th century.

1.3 Who were the Nayanars and Alvars?

The Nayanars were saints devoted to Shiva. The Alvars were saints devoted to Vishnu. There were 63 Nayanars. They came from many backgrounds: potters, hunters, soldiers, peasants, Brahmanas and “untouchable” workers. The best known were Appar, Sambandar, Sundarar and Manikkavasagar. Both groups were sharply critical of Buddhists and Jainas. They wandered from place to place and sang poems in Tamil.

2.1 What did Ramanuja teach?

Ramanuja was born in Tamil Nadu in the eleventh century, says NCERT. Tradition gives 1017 to 1137, but modern scholars question those dates. The Alvars deeply influenced him. He taught that the best way to salvation is intense devotion to Vishnu. His school is Vishishtadvaita, “qualified non-dualism”. In it the soul can be united with God yet stays distinct from Him. His ideas later inspired a new strand of bhakti in North India.

2.2 What did Madhvacharya and Nimbarka add?

Madhvacharya taught Dvaita, or dualism. God and the soul are separate. His dates are given as c. 1199 or 1238 to c. 1278 or 1317, so exams rarely ask for them. Nimbarka taught Dvaitadvaita, “dualism with non-dualism”. His dates are uncertain too.

3.1 What is the difference?

Nirguna means God without form or attributes. Saguna means God with form, attributes and qualities. Nirguna saints such as Kabir and Guru Nanak rejected all orthodox religions, says NCERT. Saguna saints such as Tulsidas and Surdas accepted the existing beliefs and practices but wanted to make them open to all.

3.2 Who was Kabir?

Kabir was raised in a family of Muslim weavers in or near Varanasi. NCERT says we have little reliable information about his life. His verses were sung by wandering singers. Some were later collected in works such as the Kabir Bijak and the Guru Granth Sahib. Scholars note that several versions of these texts exist. He drew followers from both Hindus and Muslims. Tradition calls him a disciple of Ramananda. Ramananda lived in the 14th to mid-15th century in the Ganga basin. His disciples included Ravidas, Pipa and Dhanna. Evidence for the exact teacher links is thin.

3.3 Who was Guru Nanak, and why did Sikhism become a separate religion?

Guru Nanak lived from 1469 to 1539. He was born at Talwandi (Nankana Sahib, now in Pakistan). He travelled widely and set up a centre at Kartarpur on the Ravi. Regular worship there was the singing of his own hymns. His followers grew in number under his successors. Guru Arjan compiled the hymns of the Gurus in 1604 and added the writings of Kabir, Namdev and others. The later Guru Granth Sahib is the Sikh holy scripture.

3.4 Who were the Saguna poets?

Tulsidas saw God as Rama. He wrote the Ramcharitmanas in Awadhi. Surdas wrote the Sur Sagar in praise of Krishna, mostly in the Braj language. Mirabai was a Rajput princess married into the royal family of Mewar in the 16th century. NCERT says she became a disciple of Ravidas, a saint from a caste then called “untouchable”. She composed songs of devotion to Krishna that openly challenged upper-caste norms.

3.5 What did Nathpanthis, Siddhas and Yogis add?

Groups such as the Nathpanthis, Siddhas and Yogis criticised ritual and the social order with simple logical arguments. They preached renunciation. They taught meditation on the formless Ultimate Reality. They used breath control and mind and body training. Many followers came from “low” castes. NCERT says their criticism prepared the ground for devotional religion in North India. The Natha tradition emerged in the 12th and 13th centuries.

4.1 How did Bhakti take shape in Bengal?

Chaitanya (1486 to 1534) lived in Bengal and founded Gaudiya Vaishnavism. He worshipped Krishna with bhajan, kirtan and dance. NCERT calls him a sixteenth-century bhakti saint who preached Krishna-Radha devotion.

4.2 How did Bhakti take shape in Maharashtra?

From the thirteenth to the seventeenth century, Maharashtra had many saint-poets. The chief names in NCERT are Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Eknath and Tukaram. Women such as Sakhubai and the family of Chokhamela, who were Mahar (“untouchable”), also sang. Their tradition centred on the Vitthala (Vithoba) temple at Pandharpur. Dnyaneshwar lived from 1275 to 1296. Namdev is traditionally dated 1270 to 1350, but scholars give other dates. Counts differ. A PIB release lists 60 of his hymns in the Guru Granth Sahib. Other references say 61.

4.3 How did Bhakti take shape in Assam?

Sankardev lived from 1449 or 1483 to 1568; the birth year is disputed. He taught Ekasarana, devotion to one God, Krishna. He drew on the Bhagavata Purana and Bhagavad Gita. NCERT says he set up satras, “houses of recitation and prayer”. He composed the Kirtana-ghosha. The full satra institution grew up after his time.

4.4 How did Bhakti take shape in Karnataka?

Basavanna (1131 to 1196) started the Virashaiva movement. NCERT says it began in the mid-twelfth century. The Virashaivas argued for the equality of all human beings. They opposed Brahmanical ideas on caste and the treatment of women. They opposed ritual and idol worship. Tradition calls Basavanna the founder of the Lingayats. Modern scholars say he revived an older tradition. The Anubhava Mantapa was an open hall for spiritual discussion.

4.5 Why do regional languages matter?

NCERT says most saints composed in regional languages, and their works could be sung. The songs were handed down orally. The poorest and most deprived communities, and women, helped carry them.

5.1 Which traps come up?

The first trap is the order in time: Alvars and Nayanars come before Kabir and Mirabai by many centuries. The second is mixing Nirguna and Saguna poets. The third is calling Basavanna the sole founder of the Lingayats. The fourth is treating Sikhism as just another Bhakti sect.

5.2 Where have these topics appeared before?

Exam questions have tested these topics. Read the exact wording before you choose.

• CAPF (ACs) 2026 asked about the Baul tradition of Nadia, Bengal. Source: CAPF (ACs) 2026, question 30
• UPSC CSP 2016, Q17 asked about Siddhas and Lingayats. Source: UPSC CSP 2016, question 17
• CAPF (ACs) 2020 asked about what the Lingayats believed. Source: CAPF (ACs) 2020 paper
• CDS I 2026, Q60 asked what Basavanna’s followers were called. The answer is Virashaivas. Source: CDS (I) 2026, question 60