Tag: bhakti movement : south and north india

Guru Nanak is the founder of Sikh religion which believes in Guru Granth Sahib as the supreme authority. The followers of this idea and teachings of Nanak are known as Nanak Panthis. Panth means the path in a direction. Hence, different followers got different names based on their teachers during Medieval period in India e.g followers of Kabir were called Kabir Panthis.

The Bhakti movement was influenced by Islam upon its arrival in India. It emphasized on the idea of 'surrender to god'.

Bhakti movement that began in India from AD 7th Century is based on total devotion to God and complete surrender to God without any rituals and sacrifices. In Bhakti movement, we observe different saints spreading this message of devotion in the language that could be understood by the common man. Thus, Bhakti believed that devotion to God is a path that can be followed by any individual.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is a Bengal-based saint and spiritual leader of the Bhakti movement who popularized the devotion to Lord Krishna. He popularized Vaishnava Bhakti by preaching the Bhagavad Gita and Bhagavata Purana. As a preacher, he spent a lot of time travelling throughout the country spreading the message of Krishna Bhakti. He is also considered as an important personality responsible for the beginning of the 'Hare Krishna' cult. 

In the Medieval Indian history, Panthis were the followers of a particular way or path of one specific saint and their ideas. Kabir was a saint of Bhakti movement who had a Muslim upbringing and was inspired in his later life by the teachings of saint Ramananda. The followers of Kabir who believed in religious harmony are known as Kabir Panthis. 

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was a 14th century saint who played an important role in promoting the idea of Krishna Bhakti. His ideas and thoughts are collected in a book 'Chaitanya Charitamrita' by Krishna Das Kaviraja in Bengali Language with Sanskrit verses.  It also describes the life journey of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in different phases.

 In the Bhakti movement, there were new ideas in the Hindu religion where the message of pure devotion to God was spread by different saints. It believed in emotion and compassion to connect with God through the language of common men and feeling of brotherhood and harmony. Hence, it did no accept the idea of idols and temple worship. 

Mirabai, a 16^th century, Rajasthan-based saint is known in history to be one of the greatest devotees of Lord Krishna. She was a saint who followed Bhakti tradition- complete devotion to God. Her compositions for Lord Krishna are known as ‘Bhajans’. ‘Bhaj’also means complete surrender (to God).

Ramananda was a saint in the Bhakti movement who popularized the worship of Ram and Sita. Kabir is considered among the twelve of his popular disciples. Kabir is also a saint who was initially brought up in a Muslim family but later was influenced by Ramananda's teachings.

Bhakti movement became popular in Indian history from AD 7^th Century. Bhakti believed in the idea of devotion to the God which could be practiced by any individual through simple means without extra-ordinary rituals and sacrifices. Hence, it also rejected the division of Caste system as saints of Bhakti movement believed in treating everyone equally with compassion.