Sources and The Process of Integration of Cults
- Anupam Dixit
- Sep 6, 2022
- 3 min read
Sources to understand Bhakti and Sufi traditions
Literary sources or Written Sources available for this period include Oral compositions by poet-saints in regional languages and set to music.
These were compiled by disciples or devotees, after the death of the poet-saint.
Hagiographies or biographies of saints written by their disciples or devotees. These may not bilaterally accurate, but allow a glimpse into the ways in which devotees perceived the lives of these path breaking women and men.
India is a Mosaic of Religious Beliefs and Practices
Bhakti Movement is known for The integration of various cults ( way of worship) of Hinduism :
There were two processes at work to integrate different cults. One was a process of disseminating Brahmanical ideas by composing, compiling and preserving of Puranic texts in simple Sanskrit verse,
These compilations were accessible to women and Shudras.
At the same time, there was a second process at work – that of the Brahmans accepting and reworking the beliefs and practices of Shudras. Many beliefs and practices were shaped through continuous dialogue between “great” (Brahmans) traditions and “little” (Shudras) traditions throughout the land.
The most striking example of this processes is evident at Puri, Orissa, where the principal deity was identified as Jagannatha (literally, the lord of the world), a form of Vishnu.
Such instances of integration are evident amongst goddess cults as well. Worship of the goddess in the form of a stone coloured with red and yellow mud. They were identified as wives of the principal male deities – sometimes they were equated with Lakshmi, the wife of Vishnu, in other instances, with Parvati, the wife of Shiva and Saraswati, wife of Brahma.
Early Traditions of Bhakti in Tamil Nadu
Types of Bhakti
Historians of religion often classify bhakti traditions into two broad categories: Saguna and Nirguna
The Saguna Bhakti included traditions that focused on the worship of specific deities such as Shiva, Vishnu and his avatars (incarnations) and forms of the goddess or Devi, in anthropomorphic or Human forms.
Nirguna bhakti on the other hand was worship of an abstract or formless concept of God.
The Alvars and Nayanars and spread of Bhakti
The Alvars: Some of the earliest bhakti movements were led by the Alvars, literally, those who are “immersed” in devotion to Vishnu.
Nayanars: literally, leaders who were devotees of Shiva. They travelled from place to place singing hymns in Tamil In praise of their gods.
During their travels the Alvars and Nayanars Identified certain shrines as abodes of their chosen deities and large temples were built at these sacred places. These developed as centers of pilgrimage.
Some historians suggest that the Alvars and Nayanars initiated a movement of protest against the caste system and dominance of Brahmins. Bhaktas joined from diverse social backgrounds from Brahmanas to cultivators and even from castes considered untouchable.
They believed that their compositions were as important as the Vedas. The composition of the Alvars, the Nalayira Divya prabandham, was frequently described as the Tamil Veda and the composition of Nayanars is Tevaram.
One of the most striking features of these traditions was the presence of women. For instance ,the compositions of Andal, a woman Alvar, were widely sung and continue to be sung to date. Andal saw herself as the beloved of Vishnu; her versus express her love for the deity.
Another woman, Karaikkal Ammaiyar, a devotee of Shiva, adopted the path of extreme asceticism in order to attain her goal. Her compositions were preserved wit in the Nayanar tradition.
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