Bhakti Movement MCQ Question and Answer | History MCQ Question

The Sanskrit word bhakti is derived from the root bhaj, which means "divide, share, partake, participate, to belong to". The word also means "attachment, devotion to, fondness for, homage, faith or love, worship, piety to something as a spiritual, religious principle or means of salvation".

The Bhakti movement originated as a reaction against caste division, untouchability, and ritualism in India. One of the important landmark in the cultural history of medieval India was the silent revolution in society brought about by by some socio-religious reformers, known as the Bhakti Movement.

Vallabhacharya was born in Varanasi. He propounded Suddhadvaita Vedanta (Pure non-dualism) and philosophy called Pustimarga (the path of grace). He was the founder of a school called Rudra Sampradaya.

Srimanta Sankardeva Or Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardeva - Vaisnav Saint of Assam Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardeva was born in 1449 into Baro-Bhuyans family near at Aali-pukhuri, about 8 miles to the west-north-west of Bardowa situated in the Nagaon district of Assam.

Monotheism or belief in one God, Equality and brotherhood of man, Rejection of rituals and class division are aspect of Bhakti Movement that was common with Sufism.

The Bhakti movement was a devotional transformation of medieval Hindu society, wherein Vedic rituals or alternatively ascetic monk-like lifestyle for moksha gave way to individualistic loving relationship with a personally defined god. Salvation which was previously considered attainable only by men of Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishya castes, became available to everyone. Most scholars state that Bhakti movement provided women and members of the Shudra and untouchable communities an inclusive path to spiritual salvation. Some scholars disagree that the Bhakti movement was premised on such social inequalities.

In his works Kavitavali and Vinayapatrika, Tulsidas attests to his parents abandoning him after birth due to an inauspicious astrological configuration.

Tulsi Das was a humanist and universalist and laid stress upon knowledge, devotion, worship and mediation. He has blended in his work the philosophical monist of the past with stress on Bhakti, the poetry and dignity of Valmiki’s Ramayana with the devotional fervour and humanism of Bhagvata.

Pallavas, Pandyas and Cholas dynasties under the Saivaite Nayanmars and Vashnavaite Alwars preached the Bhakti cult.

One of the finest examples of Mughal architecture and a noted religious centre for Muslims is the Dargah or Tomb of Sheikh Salim Chisti in Fatehpur Sikri. Emperor Akbar had this tomb built in the honour of Sufi Saint Salim Chisti between 1571 and 1580.