Please tell something about the "Propagation of the Bhakti Movement".
Answers
The word Bhakti means devotion to God. The Bhakti cult, a reform movement in Hinduism, laid emphasis on devotion to God. It originated in the 9th century AD in South India, when Shankaracharya brought about a revival in Hinduism. The principal deities worshiped by the apostles of the Bhakti cult are: Shiva, Shakti and Vishnu through his two most popular incarnations, Rama and Krishna. Many other devotees focussed on a Formless God. They, especially Kabir and Guru Nanak, attracted a large following.
The Bhakti Movement in Maharashtra ran parallel to that in the North that had been a series of religious thinkers and reformers. In Maharashtra it sprang up with the teachings of Sant Jnaneswar. Jnaneswar condemned the caste system. He denounced idol worship and useless rituals. He defined Bhakti as "that in which one thinks of nothing except for God; refuses to hear anything except his name and serves human beings as manifestations of God". He made the Vithoba temple at Pandharpur the centre of his activities.