write a short note on Nature and significance of Bhakti and Sufi Movements?10M

Write a short note on Nature and significance of Bhakti and Sufi Movements?10M

 Bhakti as a religious concept means devotional surrender to a personally conceived supreme God for attaining salvation. The origin of this doctrine has been traced to both the Brahmanical and Buddhist traditions of ancient India and to various scriptures such as the Gita

The saiva Nayanar saints and vaisnava Alvar saints of South India spread the concept of bhakti among different sections of the society irrespective of caste and sex during the period between the 7th and the 10th century.

From 13th to 15th century many popular socio-religious movements flourished in North and East India and Maharashtra. Emphasis on bhakti and religious equality characterized these movements. Almost all the bhakti movements of the Sultanate period have been related to one South Indian vaishnava achariya or the other

FACTORS FOR THE RISE OF THE BHAKTI MOVEMENT:

POLITICAL FACTOR;

The advent of Islam and the establishment of Turkish political hegemony eroded the power and prestige of the Brahmins. Thus the stage was set for the emergence of nonconformist movements with anti-caste and anti-Brahmanical ideology.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS:

It has been suggested that the bhakti movements of medieval India represented sentiments of the common people against feudal oppression.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHANGES:

The growing classes of urban artisans were attracted towards the monotheistic movement because of its egalitarian ideas as they were now not satisfied with the low status accorded to them in traditional Brahmanical hierarchy. It has been suggested that some group of traders like the Khatris in the Punjab, who benefited directly from the growth of towns, urban crafts production and expansion of markets, were also drawn into the movement for the same reason .



FEATURES OF BHAKTI MOVEMENT:
  • Unity of God or one God though known by different names.
  • Condemnation of rituals, ceremonies and blind faith.
  • Rejection of idol worship.
  • Surrender of oneself to God.
  • Emphasized both Nirguna and Saguna bhakti.
  • Salvation through Bhakti.
  • Open-mindedness about religious matters.
  • Rejected castes distinctions & believed in equality of all humans.
  • Rebelled against the upper caste’s domination and the Sanskrit language.
  • Use of local or regional languages for Preaching.
  • Creation of literature in local language.

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