TAMIL BHAKTI MOVEMENT

 Trace the history of Tamil Bhakti Movement.

By the 7^th century, orthodox Hinduism overshadowed both Jainism and Buddhism and it became the dominant religion in the South. Two principal sects of Hinduism – Saivism and Vaishnavism – gave rise to the Bhakti cult. The saints of Saivism were known as Nayanmars and those of Vaishnavism, Alvars. There were 63 Nayanmars and 12 Alvars. The most famous saints of Saivism were Appar, Sambandha, Sundaramurti and ManikkaVachaka. Their devotional songs have been very popular. The Vaishnava saints, Alvars, also composed songs and hymns in praise of Vishnu. They were recited and sung in the Vishnu temples. The collection of their hymns is called ‘Prabandua’.

The cultural contribution of the South was in the form of the Bhakti cult. The doctrine of ‘Bhakti’ means complete devotion and surrender to personal God. Bhakti is the true record of mystical experience and of experiences and of ecstasies of moments of light when the devotees see the vision of God. The individual’s faith in and devotion to personal God is intersected as a means of attaining salvation. In the Bhakti cult, the deity in the abstract is conceived of in some form suitable for intervention in human affairs. The mental conception of God is transformed into physical forms for the uninitiated and temples are constructed and God is to be installed in them in the shape of idols of various kinds. Votaries of Bhakti go there and worship in common. Worship is prescribed in forms suitable to the conception of the deity. All this made religion well defined and organized in particular forms for devotion and practical worship. The bhakti movement, which had its genesis int eh worship of the Gods Siva and Vishnu, had its beginnings in the south before the Aryan culture had penetrated in that region and so it is pre-Aryan. Saiva and Vaishnava saints of the South developed the Bhakti cult considerably. The Bhakti of Nayanmars, the Saiva saints were very noble and ideal. Their devotional songs were remarkable for their piety, simplicity and intense attachment to God. By virtue of their songs, hymns, mantras, and devotion, these saints had caused profound change in religion throughout the Tamil country. Similarly, the Vaishnava saints, Alvars, encouraged the Bhakti cult. In praise of their personal God, Vishnu, they composed poems and songs and gradually developed their own literature – called Sangam literature of Pallava rule. The bhakti literature – the Tevaram and the Tiruvachakam of the Nayanmars of the Saivas and the Prabandham of the Alvars of the Vaishnavas – belong to the Pallava age. As N. N. Ghosh points out, the religious literature of the Bhakti cult gives evidence of the development of Agamas (Sastric Literature) which lies at the root of temple worship, and is a direct product of the religion of the Bhakti or devotional cult. The whole of the Agama literature, both Vaishnava and Saiva, numbering more than 120, came into existence to fulfil the needs of temple worship. The Bhakti cult made temple worship the prominent feature of religion