The age between the 6th and 9th centuries CE in Tamil Nadu is known for a religious renaissance and the Bhakti Movement, marking a Hindu revival that emerged from the 6th century CE onward. This article traces the growth of Vaishnavism and Saivism in the Tamil country through the Bhakti Movement, examining its leading saints, their philosophies, and their literary legacies

Tamil Bhakti Movement

• Pey, Poykai, and Putham were the earliest Alwars, while Karaikkal Ammaiyar and Tirumular were the earliest Nayanmars — together regarded as the “morning stars” of the Bhakti Movement.
• The fundamental principles of religion began to develop during this period: the idea of God and the path to attaining His feet began to emerge, as the saints of Saivism and Vaishnavism spread their philosophies.
  • This religious philosophy reached the masses, and the devotional songs of the saints, sung in temples, cultivated devotion to God; Shiva, Vishnu, and Durga were worshipped, and devotional hymns made the Bhakti Movement all the more effective.
• Jainism and Buddhism, which had spread and grown during the Kalabhra period, began to decline during the time of the Pallavas, owing to several factors:
  • political change in the Tamil country;
  • the detachment from worldly life and the veneration of the “other world” preached by these faiths;
  • non-belief in a personal God; and
  • the patronage given to Hinduism by Mahendravarman I, Maravarman Arikesari, Nandi II, and the Pandyan king Parantaka Neduncheliyan.
• The doctrine of Bhakti means complete devotion and surrender to God — a true record of mystical experience, in which the devotee, at moments of ecstasy, perceives a personal vision of God.
  • The Saiva and Vaishnava saints of the South developed this Bhakti cult, and their devotional songs, marked by piety and intense attachment to God, brought about a profound change in religion throughout the Tamil country.
  • The Bhakti cult made temple worship the prominent feature of religion.
• Vaishnavism and Saivism are the two principal cults within Hinduism that emerged from this movement — Saivites worshipped Lord Shiva as God, while Vaishnavites worshipped Lord Vishnu.