Bhakti Movement in Indian Society

Bhakti as a religious concept means devotional surrender to a supreme God for attaining salvation. This doctrine has been traced to various scriptures such as the Gita and both the Brahmanical and Buddhist traditions of ancient India. But between the seventh and tenth century in South India, Bhakti grew from a mere religious doctrine into a popular movement based on religious equality and broad-based social participation. The movement was led by popular saint-poets. The brightest stars among them were Kabir, Tulsidas, Meera bai, Guru Nanak, Chaitanya, Namdev, etc. They were egalitarian society, a society in which there are respect and concern towards each other, human dignity and feeling of fraternity.
It reached its climax in the tenth century after which it began to decline. But it was revived as a philosophical and ideological movement by a series of scholars or acharyas beginning with Ramanuja in the eleventh century. The bhakti saints used images of daily life and always tried to identify themselves in one way or another with the sufferings of the common people. The establishment of the Delhi sultanate in early thirteenth century showed great explosion of many diverse socio religious movements in various parts of the country which brought into play of the bhakti movement.

BHAKTI MOVEMENT IN SOUTH INDIA

The Sai Nayanar saints and Vaishnava Alvar saints of South India spread the doctrine of Bhakti among different sections of the society irrespective of caste and sex during the period between seventeenth and the tenth century. Some of these saints came from the lower castes and some were women. They preached bhakti in an intense emotional manner and promoted religious egalitarianism. They spread the doctrine with rituals and passed through the region, several times singing, dancing and advocating bhakti. The Alvar and Nayanar saints used the Tamil language for preaching and composing devotional songs. All these features gave the movement popular character.
These poet-saints resisted the authority of the Orthodox Brahmans by making bhakti accessible to all irrespective of any caste and sex. But it had its limitation as well. It never opposed the Varna and caste systems at the social level. There was no limitation of Brahmanical rituals such as worship of idols, recitation of the Vedic mantras and pilgrimages to sacred places in spite of took priority over bhakti as the superior mode of worship.
Ultimately, after the movement reached its climax in the tenth century, it was gradually assimilated into the conventional Brahmanical religion. But despite these limitations, the South Indian bhakti movement succeeded in championing the cause of religious equality and the Brahmans had to accept the right of the low caste to preach, to have access to the Vedas and to have access to Bhakti as a mode of worship.
Rahmanuja (11th century), the first Brahmans acharya, gave philosophical justification for Bhakti. He tried to establish a careful balance between orthodox Brahmanism and popular Bhakti which was open to all. Though he did not support the idea of the lower castes having access to the Vedas, he advocated Bhakti as a mode of worship accessible to all including the sudras and even the outcastes. While propagating Bhakti, he did not observe caste distinctions and ever tried to eradicate untouchability.

BHAKTI MOVEMENT IN NORTH INDIA

In north India, during the Sultanate period (13th-15th century), arose many popular socio-religious movements in North and East India and Maharashtra. Almost all the bhakti movements of the Sultanate period have been related to South Indian vaishnava acharyas. For these reasons, many scholars believe that the bhakti movements of the sultanate period were continuation of the elder bhakti movement. They argued that there existed philosophical and ideological links between the two.
There are similarities between the older bhakti tradition of south India and various bhakti movements in the Sultanate and Mughal periods. The popular monotheistic movement of Kabir, Nanak and other low caste saints showed that both the two have possessed many common features. For example, like the south Indian bhakti movement, the Vaishnava bhakti movements of North, Eastern India, and Maharashtra never condemned the caste system, the authority of Brahmanical scriptures and privileges as such.
Consequently, like the South Indian bhakti movements, most of the vaishnava movements of the later period were assimilated into the Brahmanical religion and thus underwent many changes and gradually differed from south Indian bhakti movements. The bhakti movements of the medieval india differed in many significant respects not only from the older South Indian Bhakti but also among themselves. Each of them had its own regional identity and socio-historical cultural contexts.
During the later period, when the vaishnava bhakti movement crystallized into sects, there arose frequent disputes between them which sometimes even turned violent. Among all the bhakti movements of the period between the 14th and 17th century, the popular monotheistic movements of Kabir, Nanak, Raidas and other lower caste saints become really different. In the centuries following the establishment of the Delhi sultanate and advent of Islam in north India, popular monotheistic movement and vaishnava bhakti movement arose in that part of the country at the same time. For this reason, the rise of both two movements is often attributed to common causes such as the influence of Islam on Hinduism. The popular monotheistic movements reached their climax in the Sultanate period, while the vaishnava movements reached their climax during the Mughal period.

EMERGENCE OF THE BHAKTI MOVEMENT

The bhakti movement which influenced large number of people during 14th-17th centuries in North India emerged due to a number of political, socio economic and religious factors.

Political Factors for the rise of the Bhakti Movement

Initially, the popular bhakti movement could not take root in Northern India before the Turkish conquest because the socio-religious milieu was dominated by the Rajput-Brahman alliance which was hostile to any heterodox movement. Consequently, the Turkish conquest brought the supremacy of this alliance to an end. The advent of Islam with the Turkish conquest also caused a setback to the power by the Brahmans. However, the way was paved for the growth of the movements with anti-caste and anti-Brahmanical ideology.
The Brahmans had always made the people believe that the images and idols in the temple were not just the symbols of God but were gods themselves who possessed divine power and who could influence by the Brahmans. Here, the Turks deprived Brahmans of their wealth and state support. However, the Brahmans suffered both materially and ideologically. The loss of power and influence by the Brahmans and the new political situation ultimately created conditions for the rise of the popular monotheistic movements and other bhakti movements in Northern India.

Socio-Economic Factors

It has been argued that the bhakti movements of medieval India represented sentiments of the common people against feudal oppression. And it is in this series, sometimes the medieval bhakti movements are regarded as Indian matching part of the Protestant reformation in Europe. Nevertheless, they didn’t represent the class interest of the peasantry against the surplus-extracting feudal state. For that reason, the bhakti movements cannot be regarded as Indian variant of European Protestant Reformation which was a far greater social turmoil linked to the decline of feudalism and the rise of capitalism.
The Turkish ruling class, unlike Rajputs, lived in towns. The demands of the resource using class for manufactured goods, luxuries and other necessaries led to the introduction of many new techniques and crafts. The growing classes of urban artisans were attracted towards the monotheistic movement because of its egalitarian ideas as they were not satisfied with the low status accorded in Brahmanical hierarchy.
In Punjab, the popularity of the movement did not remain to urban classes: it acquired a broader base by the merging of the Jat peasants. The support extended by the Jats of the Punjab to Guru Nanak’s movement contributed to the development of Sikhism as a mass religion.

Conclusion

The Bhakti Movement of the Sultanate period represented the most widespread group of socio religious movements in Indian history after the rise of heterodox movements of the 6th century B.C. They influenced the whole country at different times by advocating new socio religious ideas and practices. They also contributed to the growth of modern dialect of languages, emergence of organized religious communities like the Sikhs and evolution of various sects and the most important outcome was on the metaphysical and philosophical thoughts, beliefs and practices. Guru Nanak, Meera Bai, Namdev and Tulsidas brought remarkable Bhakti compositions to the Indian literature. These works brought Indians closer to each other, between Muslims and Hindus in particular.

Mughal Architecture in India

Mughal architecture is the distinctive style developed by the Mughals. It is a combination of Islamic, Persian and Indian architecture. Babur (1526-1530 CE), the founder of the Mughal dynasty in India, made a beginning of the architectural style which was later developed on a massive scale by his grandson Akbar (1556-1605 CE) and Akbar’s grandson Shah Jehan (1628-1658 CE).
What marvellous line of Emperors these Mughals were, six of the greatest directly desecended sovereigns in the history of the world. Two at least, were men of genius of the very first rank. Babar, soldier and artist, conqueror of Afghanistan and India, prince of autobiographies and gardeners and his grandson Akbar, dreamer and statesman, are the noblest and most fascinating characters in all eastern history.
For the rest of them, Humayun certainly lost ground, but he passed on the kingdom to his son the Great Akbar. Jahangir, Akbar’s son, the great emperors greatest disappointment, still lives in his country’s song and legend in the strength of his romantic life-long love for Nur Mahal, his queen. Shah Jahan, the Great administrator, ranks high, as must any king who inspires and builds a nation masterpiece and no less for that even greater scheme, the dream of the second Taj, whose realisation fate and the emperor’s bigot son frustrated. But in spite of his fanaticism he extended the empire and held it together for fifty years. Then as his iron nerve and hand relaxed in death the great empires of the Mughal fell and with its downfall passed the greatest of the arts and crafts it fostered.
With constructional and instrumental techniques, norms and concepts, Mughal architecture grown from historical-culture, geo-physical background and a transparent evolutionary process that none was prior to it in medieval India. It had a duration for about 132 years practically from 1526 to 1658 in which Fatehpur Sikri in Agra, Lahore, Kashmir, Kabul, Delhi, Allahabad, Ajmer, Ahmedabad, Mandu and Burhanpur are its major centres. About 400 monuments of this style have survived including city-walls and gates, forts, palaces, tombs, masjids, hammams, gardens, minarets, tanks, bridges and the Taj Mahal.
Mughal’s architecture reflect a love for perfection, magnificent, ornamentation, dignity and luxury. At the time of Babur, the Indo-Saracens architecture had developed a distinct style of its own which could be called as primarily Indian. Babur brought Persian influence to India which continued under Humayun and Akbar.

The Emperor Akbar

The emperor Akbar (1556-1605 CE) built largely in which there is a combination of Muslim and Hindu features in his work. He constructed the royal city of Fatehpur Sikri at the west of Agra in the late 1500s. He built impressive tombs, which includes the tomb of Akbar’s father Humayun and Akbar’s tomb at Sikandra which has a unique structure.
Akbar’s architectural activity began with the palace fort at Agra, where more than five hundreds buildings of red stone were constructed. He collected artisans from all over parts of his dominions to fulfil his own self-expression. But, unfortunately, Shah Jahan did not think the red sandstone structures good enough for the imperial palace and he replaced most of them with buildings of his own choice.
Akbar, who having handed down political unity and stability to the country from his father, Humayun, could provide to devote both time and energy to the magnitude of the art of building. His love for universal tolerance was equally reflected in his buildings, where he allowed the Persian and the Indian to freely operate. The group of buildings at Fatehpur Sikri is the best examples of his regime’s architecture. The buildings equally reflect a harmonious blending of Persian and Indian styles. Its best examples are the Jama Masjid and the Buland Darwaza which is described as the most perfect architectural achievements of India. Akbar’s architecture used extensively red sandstone, construction of better doms, arches and portals, greater ornamentation and massive forts.

Jahangir

Under Jahangir (1605-1627 CE) the Hindu features vanished from the style. His great masjid at Lahore is in the Persian style. At Agra, accross the river Jumna, the tomb of Itmadu ad-Daula (the Lord High Treasurer) built entirely of white marble. It is the first example of marble work in a style which directly evolved from pietra-dura mosaic (the Persian tile-mosaics). It was raised by Nur Jahan to the memory of her father, Mirza Ghiyas Beg, and as testimony of her love for precision ornamentation. He also built the Shalimar gardens accompanied by pavilions on the shore of Dal lake in Kashmir. And due to his great love to his wife, after his death his wife went on to build his mausoleum in Lahore.
Akbar’s mausoleum was built in Jehangir’s time, though Jehangir’s main interests were painting and garden architecture. Verinag and Chasma’i Shahi are gardens built around the spring. The Jehangiri Mahal is a large complex of living appartments and represents the adaptation of a Hindu style of architecture to the Muslim style of living. The Delhi Gate, which the public entrace, gives an impression of strength and solidity from the outside and of opennes and cultured dignity from within.
Shah Jahan
The most splendid of the Moghul tombs and the most renowned building in India is the Taj Mahal at Agra, the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, the wife of Shah Jahan (1627-1658 CE). The Taj Mahal was completed in 1648 by the emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. While the Taj Mahal was under construction he began an eshtablishment of a new city, mosque and palace fort at Delhi to be called after him Shahjanabad. He also built the jami Masjid at Agra in honour of his daughter Jahan Ara.
The Moti Masjid (Pearl Masjid) in the Agra fort and the Jama Masjid at Delhi are also an impressing building which their position and architecture have been considered so. Moti masjid stands out for its purity and simplicity apart from Diwani Khas which reflects emperor’s love for ornamentation.
In his work, Shah jahan considered himself as the most brilliant builder of Indian kings. He also built Shahjahan masjid in Thatta and Wazir khan masjid in Lahore. He built a mausoleum and the huge Lahore fort including the impressive Moti Masjid, Sheesh Mahal and Naulakha pavilion. Shah Jahan for the first time brought grace delicacy and rhytm that brought him in a unique position of his own.
The reign of Shah Jahan began a phase of architectural activity using marble as the new structural material. The Diwani Am (Hall Public Audiences) was rebuilt which then Diwani Khas (the Hall of the Private Aundiences) built some ten years later. But his most praiseworthy contribution to the buildings of the Agra fort was the Moti Masjid.

Aurangzeb and later Mughal Architecture

Although Shajahan’s death gave a setback to architecture for Aurangzeb but during Aurangzeb’s reign (1658-1707 CE) four-sided figure stone and marble gave way to brick. He built one of the thiteen gates named Alamgir. The most impressive building of Aurangzeb’s reign is the Badshahi masjid which was constructed under supervision of Fida’i Koka. The elegant Zinatul Masjid in Daryaganj was directed by Aurangzeb’s second daughter Zinatun Nisa. Mausoleum in the Roshanara Bagh in Sabzimandi was for Aurangzeb’s sister Roshanara who died in 1671. Bibi ka Maqbara, mausoleum was built by Price Azam Shah, son of Aurangzeb, as aloving tribute to his mother, Dilras Bano Begum. The Alamgiri gate is the main entrance to the Lahore fort in Lahore.
The Red Fort at Delhi is surrounded by a high wall of red sandstone in which there are two gateways, one for private use on the south side and another the public extrance, called Lahori Gate, on the west side. With simple design, the gateway is a perfect combination of military requirements and architectural beauty.
The Jami’ Masjid of Delhi represents the excellent of mosque architecture and the Tah Mahal represents the perfection of the mausoleum. The surface of the marble is one of the physical qualities of the Taj Mahal, because it is so sensitive to light conditions expressing a different mood in every season and at every hour of the day and night. It is the combination of the material and the design that express the full values of both.
With the completion of the Taj Mahal, the creative desire of Indian Muslim architecture was weakened. Wazir Khan’s masjid at Lahore was an experiment in the use of brick and tiles, the Badshahi masjid with its extraordinary number of tall and short minarets was an effort in a new style. The Pearl masjid in the Red Fort at Delhi, built by Aurangzeb, has an atmosphere of intimacy but without outstanding architectural merit. Safdarjung’s tomb, built in the middle of the eighteenth century, though following the traditional pattern, lacks that harmony among the different elements of merit.

References

Mujeeb, M., The Indian Muslims, Montreal, 1967
Rizvi, S.A.A., The Wonder that was India vol. II, New Delhi, 1993
Singh, Meera., Medieval History of India, New Delhi, 1978.
Stuart, Villiers, C.M., Gardens of the Great Mughals, Chennai, 1913