SPREAD OF THE MOVEMENT AND CONSTRAINTS

During the time between the 7th and 10th centuries, the Nayanar saints and Alvar saints of South
India spread the idea of bhakti between various parts of society, regardless of caste and sex. A
few of these saints came from the castes below and some were women. In an intense , emotional
way, the holy poets preached bhakti and tried to encourage religious egalitarianism. They
ignored rituals and sang, danced and advocated bhakti many times throughout the area.

For praying and writing devotional songs, the Alvar and Nayanar saints used the Tamil language
and not Sanskrit. The movement could thus build a common base. During that time frame, the
South Indian bhakti saints used to criticise the Jains and Buddhists who enjoyed a privileged
position in the courts of South Indian monarchs. They won over many Buddhist and
Jaini adherents, both of which became rigid and formal religions by then. At the same time, these
saint-poets defied the supremacy of the Orthodox Brahmins by making bhakti available to
everyone without any prejudice against caste and sex.
But there were limitations to the South Indian bhakti movement as well. At the social level, he
never actively opposed Brahmanism or the varna and caste systems. It was integrated with the
caste system and various social disabilities tended to affect the lower castes. In spite of the
overarching emphasis on bhakti as the preferable mode of worship, there was no removal of
Brahmanical practises such as idol worship, recitation of the Vedic mantras and pilgrimages to
sacred places. The Jains and Buddhists were not the Brahmins' key targets. This was perhaps also
the reason why the temples ruled by the Brahman played a vital role in the advancement of the
movement of South Indian bhakti. The South Indian Holy Poets did not question the ideological
and social pillars of the caste system. As a consequence, the bhakti movement of the south in the
long run strengthened the hierarchical structure rather than undermining it. Ultimately, the
traditional Brahmanic faith was gradually introduced after the movement achieved its zenith in
the 10th century.

Even after these barriers, in its heyday, the South Indian bhakti movement succeeded in
championing the cause of religious equality and, as a result, the Brahmins had to recognise the
low caste's right to preach, to have access to bhakti as a mode of worship, and even to have
access to the Vedas.

BHAKTI MOVEMENT IN NORTH INDIA

Many common socio-religious movements in North and East India and Maharashtra flourished
from the 13th to the 15th centuries. These movements were characterised by a focus on bhakti
and religious freedom. Almost all of the Sultanate period's bhakti movements were connected to
one South Indian vaishnava achariya or the other. Many scholars claim, for these reasons, that
the Sultanate era bhakti movements were a continuity or revival of the older bhakti movement.

Many scholars believe that, either because of communication or diffusion, there were intellectual
and ideological relations between the two. Therefore, it is believed that Kabir and other leaders
of non-conformist monotheistic movements in North India were Ramananda's disciples who, in
turn, are believed to have been related to the theological order of Ramanuja. Similar arguments
have been made that Chaitanya belonged to Madhava's philosophical school. Due to its focus on
Krishna Bhakti, this movement is also assumed to have been associated with Nimbarka 's school.