Around the eighth century, a movement was started by Adi Shankaracharya to revive the influence of the Vedas among the Hindus. His teachings, which belong to the school of thought called Advaita Vedanta, revere the formless Brahman as the ultimate God. Shankaracharya's ideas had a great influence on the entire country.
One side effect was that the religious life became very dry as there was no physical representation of the metaphysical Brahman. At the same time, the inequities perpetrated by the caste system were weakening the Hindu religion, and the so-called lower castes were moving to other faiths. In South India, the Bhakti movement started in response to these factors.
Bhakti poets had no problem with physical representations of God. They rejected all markers of differentiation such as caste. They preached in local languages so that people could easily understand their message.
The earliest saints were the Vaishnava Alvars and the Shaiva Nayanars. In the 11th century came Ramanuja, who has been called the most influential saint of the Bhakti movement. He was responsible for spreading the Bhakti movement outside South India.
Ramananda was a saint who lived in Varanasi in the 14th century. The philosophy of Ramanuja inspired him. Ramananda is considered a pioneer of the Bhakti movement in North India.
Among his numerous followers were famous poets Kabir and Ravidas. The teachings of these followers of Ramananda influenced Tulsidas, who lived in the 16th century. Taking th.
