Alwars come from the Tamil Nadu – Kerala region. Alwars include 12 saints from all sections of society. Of the 12, the saint Andal was a woman. Alvar means ‘immersed.’ Their fervent invocation of Vishnu & Krishna set the tone for intense poetry that inspired other Bhakti poets across India. Sample these, “My soul melts in anguish, he cares not if I live or die” (Andal); “Evening has come but not the dark one” (Nammazhvar).

The image is that of Andal from www.ramanuja.org.f

Lingayats are the followers of the Virasaiva (heroic Siva devotees) saints. They were remarkable for their voice against all differences – of caste, gender etc. Akka Mahadevi rejected marriage & society for self realisation. She came to the acclaimed Virasaiva ‘Anubhava Mantapa (Hall of experience) ’. There, she had dialogues with another saint, Allama. These have come down to us as her vachanas. Akka Mahadevi gave up clothes and covered herself in the immense hairlocks that she naturally had and declared Shiva to be her husband.

The Wikimedia image is a statue of Akka Mahadevi installed at her birthplace Udatadi in Shimoga, Karnataka

Lal Ded called herself a Saiva yogini and wrote, “O Blue throated God, I have the same six constituents as you. Yet separate from you, I am miserable.” Her vakh (sayings) are autobiographical. She tells us that she was educated by her father and got married in a Brahmin household. It was an unhappy marriage and she left home to become a roving ascetic. People flocked to hear her and see her miracles. All claimed her, with a Muslim writing that she danced in ecstasy as the Hebrew nabis of old.

The image of Lal Ded is from historified.in. Notice the typical hair scarf & braid worn by Kashmiri women.

Sri Kalahasti Iswara is Siva – the lord of Sri(spider), Kala (snake) and Hasti (elephant), animals which figure in local stories about Siva. Kalahasti also represents Air in the group of five temples in South India dedicated to the five elements. The name Dhurjati (one with twisted hair) suggests that he was a Saivite ascetic who sported hair matted with cow dung. These sadhus reject jati & kula and claim lineage of Siva. Dhurjati’s poetry is written in polished Telugu, used in royal courts. But it is laced with passionate devotion and despair at worldly life. Not much is known about his life but the poet rails against the excesses he did as a youth. Dhurjati writes, “Lost in the straining of passion, youth has gone. I can’t go on in this circling world. O God of Kalahasti, make me desireless.”

The aerial image of Sri Kalahasti temple is from flickr by Kalyan Kumar.

Madhvacharya formulated the Dvaita school of Vedanta and is associated with Udupi in Karnataka. Varkari means a traveler who dreams of making the pilgrimage to Pandharpur to visit Vithoba or Vitthal, who patiently waits for his devotees. The varkari tradition started with Jnandev (1275-96). He wrote Gyaneshwari – a celebrated Marathi commentary on the Gita. He came from a family that broke convention and was socially boycotted. A long line of varkari saints came after him, between the 13th & 18th centuries CE – Muktabai, Namdev, Janabai, Eknath & Tukaram. Like Jnandev they were social reformers, literary giants & spiritual heroes rolled into one. They included women & those from the lowest jatis. They served all without discrimination. They wrote in Marathi and their devotion to God was intensely personal and deeply philosophical. Janabai composed, “I eat god, I drink god, I sleep on god. I buy god, I count god, I deal with god. Void is not devoid of god.”

The picture is Wikimedia image of the annual Pandharpur vari by Varkaris by Udaykumar PR.

In the 16th century CE, two bhakti saints born in modern Ahmedabad in lower jatis, made a big impact. Dadu Dayal wrote in Braj Bhasha & became prominent in Rajasthan where Dadupanthis still exist. Akha Bhagat remains beloved in Gujarat and where he stayed in Ahmedabad is preserved as Akha na ordo (Akha’s room). Born in a family of jewellers, Akho is shown as a turbaned figure with prominent ear rings and a hard demeanor. His six line poems called chappas (from cha – Gujarati for 6) are as hard hitting as his demeanour, savaging caste, religious hypocrisy & rituals that exclude the poor. Sample this, “His acquaintance with Hari- nil, but he sits decked in ochre, guru’s garb pulled out from some bag of tricks”.

The Wikimedia image is of Akha Bhagat’s statue in Ahmedabad.

The poetry of Surdas (15th-16th CE) along with that of his contemporary Mirabai, are the favorites of classical singers during concerts even today. His work was collected and preserved as Sursagar. Alongwith Tulsidas who wrote Ramcharitmanas, Surdas is considered among the most important Bhakti saints of North India. So great is his renown that blind people are respectfully addressed as Surdas in the North. Experience the poet’s bhakti when he says, “Without his Dark Lord, Sur is a lost snake-bitten girl convulsing with venom.”

The image is of a stamp issued in Surdas’ honour by India Post in 1952.

In an election campaign in Punjab in 2022, PM Modi quoted, “’Aisa chaahoon raj main, miley saban ko ann, chhot-bado sab sam base, Ravidas rahey prasann.” Ravidas (also Raidas), born in Varanasi in the 15th century CE, is one of the most influential Bhakti saints. He is a contemporary Dalit icon with many temples dedicated to him. 40 of his verses find place in the Guru Granth Sahib of the Sikhs. Legends suggest that he was a guru to another great Bhakti saint Mirabai. Mirabai was a princess married into one of the most prestigious Hindu royal families, the rulers of Chittor. She was widowed. She left home to become a great saint. Maybe she met Ravidas on her travels. Perhaps the legend of a royal princess and her untouchable guru is to suggest that social divisions don’t matter in bhakti. Source. TimesofIndia

The Wikimedia image is a Pahari painting from 1800 CE showing Bhagat Ravidas working as a shoemaker

Bairam Khan was Akbar’s uncle, tutor and regent after Humayun’s death. Abdur Rahim Khan-e-Khanan (1556-1627) was the son of Bairam Khan. Rahim Khan accompanied Akbar on his military expeditions, most notably the one to Gujarat. He also became Mir Ard, the one who heard the thousands of applications addressed to the emperor. More importantly, he is also the Rahim Das that most of us have encountered in Hindi textbooks in school along with the famous triumvirate of medieval Bhakta poets, Sur, Tulsi and Kabir. He is known for nuskha (method) on how to live life. Sample this, ‘Rahiman dhaga prem ka, mat todo chatkay, toote se phir na jure, jure gaanth par jaye’ [Pls don’t snap the thread of love in a relationship, even if repaired after being broken, a knot always forms]. There were other famous Muslim bhakti saints – Raskhan known for his Krishna bhakti & Abdul Rahim who wrote in Punjabi. Source: Scroll

The Wikimedia image of a painting shows a young Rahim being entrusted to Akbar after his father’s killing

The Bengali word Baul comes from the Sanskrit ‘vatula’ – mad affected by the wind. Their madness is social, a complete disregard of civic & religious convention. Bauls live in small communities around a guru and are mostly from labouring castes. Experiencing the joy of spirituality, love and life is their credo. Baul singers compose their own riddle-like songs with baffling lyrics. Street singing seems to be a later innovation to earn livelihood, but that’s what has given them fame. Kshiti Mohan Sen, grandfather of Amartya Sen and the authority on Bauls, writes, “They say, these scriptures are leftovers from ancient celebrations. What are we, dogs? – that we should lick these leftovers? If there is need, we will make new,” Powerful, unnerving words.

The Wikimedia image is a 2022 photo of a Baul procession uploaded by Contact Base (WB)

Raised in a Muslim family of weavers, Kabir was born 1398 in Varanasi. He sought out and became the disciple of Ramanand, a renowned Vaishnavite. He became devoted to Rama. His simple ‘dohas’ are a part of everyday conversation in the North. He seems to have anticipated the drama at his death, though the story itself is apocryphal. He wrote, “When you die, what do you do with your body? Hindus prefer cremation, Turks burial. But in the end, one way or another, both have to leave home. Death spreads the karmic net like a fisherman snaring fish. What is a man without Ram? You’ll be sorry later when you go from this house to that one.”

The image is of a stamp issued in Kabir’s honour by India Post in 1952.

In 1875, a series of poems written by the Vaishnavite poet Bhanusimha appeared on the Calcutta literary scene. Written in an obscure Bengali dialect, Brajabuli, the poetry was striking. Later it emerged that it was the work of the young scion of the Tagore family, renowned for their reformist zeal. The poems themselves owe a lot to the ecstatic Bhakti tradition of eastern India. The tradition was started by Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda in the 12th century. It was followed by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and a string of poets Vidyapati, Chandidasa, Ramprasad Sen & many others. They switched to Bengali from Sanskrit from the 15th century onwards. But there is also anger and rebellion in Tagore’s poems. Sample this, “How long must I go on waiting under the secretive awning of the trees? When will he call the long notes of my name with his flute.”

Wikimedia image is of the original palm leaf manuscript of Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda at Odisha State Museum in Bhubaneswar.