Timeline of Art Art in South Asia The Early Bhakti Movement in South India

The Early Bhakti Movement in South India

700–900 CE

Along with the spread of Puranic religion and the proliferation of Sanskrit, sects and sacred sites dedicated to the worship of the gods Vishnu and Shiva emerge. This leads to the emergence of the bhakti movement in the Tamil-speaking regions, emphasising the sacredness of temples; ritual texts such as the Agamas; and personal devotion expressed in poetry by religious leaders such as the Shaiva Nayanars and the Vaishnava Alvars. Travelling between villages, they help further solidify the alliances formed in previous centuries between Brahmins, temples and landholders.

Bibliography

Dehejia, Vidya. The Body Adorned: Dissolving Boundaries Between Sacred and Profane in India’s Art. Ahmedabad: Mapin Publications, 2009.

Dirks, Nicholas B. The Hollow Crown: Ethnohistory of an Indian Kingdom, Cambridge South Asian Studies. New York : Cambridge University Press, 1988.

Hawley, John Stratton. A Storm of Songs: India and the Idea of the Bhakti Movement. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015.

Singh, Upinder. A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. New Delhi: Pearson, 2016.

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Art in South Asia

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Associated Timeline Events

The Spread of Sanskrit Cultural Hegemony New Social and Ritual Configurations in Southern India New Bhakti and Sufi Movements Begin in North India Eroticism and Krishna Worship in Bhakti Movements Regional Art and Architecture after the Fall of Vijayanagara