HISTORY OF INDIA- III

ASSIGNMENT
A general assumption has been drawn among historians and sociologists that the concept of bhakti
in south India, initiated a movement of protest and reform directly aimed towards caste hierarchy
and brahman’s supremacy. According to R. Champakalakshmi, this view represents an inadequate
understanding of Bhakti hymns and also an evident lack of clear point of view about the historical
processes of the ideological force of bhakti. Through the evidences, the growth of bhakti and its
transition towards a dominant ideology could be historically traced through Pallava , Pandya
(brahmanical ruling families) and Chola periods. However, one thing should be noted that no
canonical temples with an exception of the Paramesvara Vinnagaram in Kanchipuram were built in
the centres, nor did vernacular bhakti hymns inspire their temples under Pallavas and Pandyas. 1

BHAKTI AS A CONCEPT

In Tamil society, the bhakti of Alvars and Nayanars has been the central point of scholars and
historians and has been marked as an important element in the sectarian Puranic themes. There
have been debates regarding the nature of bhakti and its emphasis as a dissent against the social
evils like caste, inequalities based on status hierarchy and brahaman orthodoxy.

Bhakti arose as a sophisticated expression where its developments in various stages could be traced
through Alvar poetry. By studying bhakti hymns R. Champakalakshmi highlights the nature of the
concept and social impacts, its ideological significance and institutional developments in early
medieval Tamilakam. Bhakti as a concept first evolved in the hymns of Vaishnava Alvars and later
Shaiva Nayanars , ultimately capable of evolving into new value systems inculcating ethical and
moral principles. Bhakti transcended as a base of a ruling ideology used by powerful dynasties and
elite groups to sustain and revitalize itself in situation of crises.2 Paripatal, classified as one of 8
Cankam anthologies has a verse that introduces a new era in Tamil culture; bhakti as devotion
appears here for the first time and was only later developed fully by Alvars and Nayanars. This work
brings the idea of an absolute god and his abode into Tamil religion which later became the focus of
Tamil life and culture; the work further shows the remnants of Vedic, Upanishadic and Puranic
influence.

Friedhelm Hardy in his study of bhakti of emotional Krishna reveals a new synthesis, a meeting point
of northern Sanskritic devotional themes with the akam (love) as well as puram (war) themes of
Cankam literature and later this leads to the intensely powerful emotion bhakti in Alvar poetry which
derives its principal motifs from the Vishnu hymns of the Paripatal.

1
Champakalakshmi, R. 1996 ‘From Devotion and Dissent to Dominance: The Bhakti of the Tamil
Alvars and Nayanars’, pp. 59
2
Champakalakshmi, R. 1996 ‘From Devotion and Dissent to Dominance: The bhakti of the Tamil
Alvars and Nayanars, pp. 74
Another Cankam Text, Tirumurukarruppatai speaks about the specific association of a place and
shrines for the diety. Here, Shiva was not even classified as one of the Tinai (eco-zones) deities of the
Cankam like Mal of Mullai (forest) tinai and Murukan of Kurinchi (hilly) tinai.
3
These two texts seem to represent transition from the worship of tribal deities of anthologies to the
universalization of the godheads and the evolution under Pallavas and Pandyas of formal religious
systems, crystallized as the Puranic Vaishnavas and Shaivas.

ALVARS AND NAYANARS

VISHNU, the first major deity was Mal/ Mayon of Sangam literature and later became the sole deity
of Vaishnava pantheon, whereas SHIVA was not even mentioned in Tolakappiyam, the earliest
known grammar. He was grouped as one of the five great gods in the Kalittokai, he was not even
classified as one of Tinai deities of the Cankam. The myth that Murukan, the god of love and war of
the Sangam Kurinchi Tinai is son of Shiva provided a major force to the Shaiva pantheon.

The concept of bhakti was drawn largely from the ‘akam’ or love theme of Sangam poetry by the
Alvars and later by Nayanars and carried on to the Tamil populace as ‘intensely human religious
awareness’. 4Northern sanskritic elements assumed a dominant position, while the local or folk
deities either got completely merged or remained major components of the Puranic pantheon.
Under sectarian puranic influence, the brahmanical religion became polarized into the Vaishnava
and Shaiva.

R. Champakalakshmi has quoted that that the Alvars and Nayanars bhakti brings several strands
together, typical Sangam Tamil humanism, anthropocentric religion, emotional and sensual
character of worship and the northern Sanskritic concept of monotheism, together with several
mythological structures.

Early Alvar bhakti has been seen to be descended from the Bhagvat Gita which shows an epitome
expression of adoration, service and allegiance towards god, with temple being the spiritual centre
of their religion. The compilation of their sacred collection of bhakti hymns is, Divyaprabhandam.
5
During the Sangam age the shrines or centres of worship were known and the cult centres did exist
but the institutionalization of such centres for the promotion of the formal religious system was
absent however, the idea of temple was crystallized and promoted in bhakti hymns. 6Nayanars or
the devotees of Shiva, numbers were fixed at sixty three by the 12th century CE, belonged to various
social strata ranging from brahmans to paraiya. The bhakti of Nayanars like Alvars derived their
devotion and admiration from both the religious humanism of Sangam works and influence of
northern Sanskritic traditions, however one thing should be noted that in Nayanar hymns there is no
evidence of systematic development of bhakti as a concept. Comparing them to Alvars, they heavily
relied on emotions as well rather than intellect as well, however slightly less erotic than the Krishna
bhakti. Nayanars compiled their hymns into a sacred collection called as Tevaram and further takes
the idol worship and temple centered theism from Puranas and Agamas. As it has been viewed in
the case of Nayanars that they derive their hymns from both akam and puram structures (public

3
Champaklakshmi, R.2005, ‘Puranic religion and the evolution of the Tamil Shaiva tradition’, pp. 91
4
Champaklakshmi, R. 1996, ‘From Devotion and Dissent to Dominance’, pp. 65.
5
Champaklakshmi, R. 1996, ‘From Devotion and Dissent to Dominance’, pp. 57.
6
Champaklakshmi, R. 1996, ‘From Devotion and Dissent to Dominance’, pp. 63.
poetry) but has close affinity towards the puram structure, quite contrary to the Alvars. Puram
structure is used to celebrate god and his manifestations and to locate him in specific places;
Campantar’s hymns (a Shaiva poet) establish Shiva as the local god and transcendental deity.

THEMES OF BHAKTI

The hymns composed by saints and devotees give us a basic idea that there was a general dissent
and unlikeliness towards the established caste and status hierarchy. 7These hymns had three major
themes, firstly the idea of bhakti that is devotion towards one personal god, Vishnu or Shiva, second
is the dissent towards the orthodoxy and supremacy of brahamanas and their exclusiveness and
superior rights over god and vedas. Evidences of this struggle between Tamil hymnists and orthodox
brahmans are visible from the poetry of Nammalvar. In another text Tontaratippoti, a verse explains
antagonism towards the Chaturvedi brahmans (those who are well versed in 4 vedas) and express
full control over the temples. Tontararippoti states that even those who know and recite Vedas and
have knowledge of all six angas, if ever speak ill of devotee of Vishnu are equal to the pulaiyur
(outcastes). A direct negation of caste system can be found in Shaiva hymns, Appar hymns have
pointed out that he would even worship the ‘pulaiyurs’ if they are the devotees of Shiva.

Hart, while working on the early historical Tamil classics pointed out that there were several kinds of
brahamans in Tamil era, some of the bhakti saints were themselves brahmans against the
Chaturvedis and those who controlled the temples, this represents varying degrees of assimilation of
the indigenous culture of brahmans, this assimilation can be viewed with the creation of temples at
various centres by royals and elites and conversion of local cult centres into shrines of Shiva. The
propagators of bhakti movement came primarily from the upper strata of the society but it gained a
popular support from the incorporation of members from lover strata including unprivileged
sections of the society.8 The last major theme of bhakti is an outright condemnation of Buddhists
and Jains as non-believers and heretics, and so has been termed as "heterodox." This denunciation
towards Buddhists and Jains stemmed from their need to defend the bhakti tradition by upholding
the position of devotees even higher than that of brahmans, hence it was much important to be a
bhakta than a brahmana.

The development of bhakti reaches its culmination in Nammalvar (seventh century CE), in whose
hymns the intensely powerful emotional bhakti supersedes all other religious attitudes and methods.
With Tirumangai Alvar, (eighth century) bhakti acquires yet another meaning, through the concept
of pilgrimage (tirthaydtra) which, it has been suggested, was intended to help in resolving emotional
tensions. It also signifies the change from the poetic landscape of nature to the landscape of the
south Indian temple through the concept of pilgrimage. It is only in the Tirumatals of Tirumangai
that something like a systematic theory of bhakti has been recognized. In Tirumangai’s Periya
Tirumatal (7-9) a clear dislike towards Jains way of life has been projected, a perception about their
self-mortification and extreme penance has been mocked and ascribed as useless. Torntaratippoti
shows sign of extremism when it states that it should be the duty of the bhaktas to chop off the
heads of Jains and Buddhists if they speak ill of Vishnu. Appar (Tiruvaiyaru IV. 39; Kacci Ekampam
100.1; Tiruvarur 102) expresses despise towards his past association with Jainism and claims Jains to

7
Champaklakshmi, R. 1996, ‘From Devotion and Dissent to Dominance’, pp. 71.

8
Champaklakshmi, R. 1996, ‘From Devotion and Dissent to Dominance’, pp. 73.
be wicked, full of wile and ignorant towards the absolute truth that is Shiva. He expresses his
gratitude towards his god for redeeming him from being associated with Jains. Among others was
Campantar, a crusader whose denunciation of Buddhists and Jains was instrumental in bringing
downfall of them in royal court of Pandyas. 9He ridicules and calls out Jains practices associating
them as ‘worthless, wily rogues, scantily clad, wicked’. He claims that in the Pandya court, the fire
that the Jains aimed against him was instead directed by his prayer to afflict the Pandya king as a
disease thereby after curing the king, he established the superiority of Shaivism in the royal court.
Many bhakti hymns represents that there was rescue mission being undertaken to liberate kings and
rulers under the spell of false doctrines of Jains and Buddhists.
10
Thus it would be safe to assume that the foe was not Brahmanical or Puranic religion but
Buddhism and Jainism which were alien to the Tamil culture. This is stated in the hymns of Shaiva
saints, Appar and Campantar who were not questioning the importance of the vedas as scriptures
instead they tried to provide the status of the Vedas to the Tamil hymns. However, this has not been
explicitly mentioned in any other bhakti hymnists’ work. Therefore, the goal was to elevate the Tamil
hymns—both Vaisnava and Saiva—to the status of scriptures, or marai, comparable to the Vedas, in
order to give them legitimacy.

CONCEPT OF PILGRIMAGE

Both the Vaishnava and the Shaiva hymns have a strong feeling of a society growing up around a
sectarian theistic cult. Appar in his work has mentioned that it is said that the sense of community
increasingly unites people from different social backgrounds through ritual hymn singing, ecstatic
dancing, "seeing" darsana, and assisting other devotees obtain Shiva's favour. Shiva is seen as close
relatives, a parent, mother, an uncle, an aunt, a lord, a family member, and a friend in the Puram
tradition. The hymns are seen as public poetry that invite the community to witness, giving them a
public dimension and making it possible for anybody to partake in this experience.

Paripatal mentions that the concept of pilgrimage added to the growing strength of movement,
further he states “The Tamil countryside, the Tamil pan or music, communal singing and dancing
derived from the early indigenous rituals of worship at Murukan shrines, add a regional dimension
to the movement.” 11The focus on ritual devotion, the temple's role as the home of God, and the
iconographic descriptions of the Puranic deities (Siva and Visnu) in bhakti literature teachings has
close affinity with ethos of Agams and Tantras that laid stress on temple and image worship. The
most significant iconographic representations of Siva that are frequently mentioned in the Tevaram
are Lingodbhava, Daksinamurti, Nataraja, Tripurantaka, Bhiksatana, and Ravananugraha (the
humbling of Ravana), as well as Shiva as a yogi.

LINK TO FEUDAL RELATIONSHIP- The idea of temple service as it appears in the Alvar and Nayanar
hymns is frequently compared to a feudal relationship that is, 12the relationship between the god
and the devotee, which is thought to have its roots in the chieftain-bard or patron-client relationship
9
Champaklakshmi, R. 1996, ‘From Devotion and Dissent to Dominance’, pp. 77

10
Champaklakshmi, R. 1996, ‘From Devotion and Dissent to Dominance’, pp. 77.
11
Champaklakshmi, R. 1996, ‘From Devotion and Dissent to Dominance’, pp. 79.

12
Champaklakshmi, R. 1996, ‘From Devotion and Dissent to Dominance’, pp. 81.
of Sangam society, and which is said to have served as the model for the landlord-tenant or laborer,
the king-subject, and the lord-servant relationships.

Additionally, it is believed that references to 'royal service' in later Alvar poetry point to a court
paradigm that underlies temple ritual and the original definition of 'bhakti', which is 'loyalty'.
Cuntarar, the Shaiva poet in his verses constantly uses the term ‘atiyar’ to denote servants of the
temple which may also imply the idea of service and loyalty. The temple served as the home of the
gods and was therefore of utmost significance for the growth of the cult, but it also played a crucial
institutional role in aiding the simultaneous expansion of divine and royal authority by establishing
the territory.

It has been established that bhakti played a significant role in the development and dissemination of
the puranic faith. 13The spread of the Puranic religion was inextricably interwoven with regional and
popular traditions in the Tamil region, as it was throughout the rest of south India, and their
reciprocal interactions with Brahmanical religion. Its evolution was both synchronous and
occasionally diachronic. The Paripatal and the Tirumurkdrruppatai represent the beginning of this
process, which is further represented in the bhakti hymns, where the concept of bhakti develops and
from which the Vaisnava and the Saiva pantheons simultaneously form.

13
Champaklakshmi, R. 1996, ‘From Devotion and Dissent to Dominance’, pp. 81.