In the medieval era, many religious groups emerged due to the emergence of new religious ideas and beliefs. Some people were passionate devotees of Shiva and Vishnu who condemned the historic caste system.
They also spread the message of equality and criticized the ill-treatment of women. They believed that every human being is equal and can be united to supreme power with utter dedication and devotion. Many philosophers like Basavanna spread their ideas through different movements. Some of them also composed poems in praise of their deities to express their love for god. Similarly, during this time there emerged other religious groups like Nathpanthis, Siddhas, and yogis.
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Nathpanthis were a famous religious group in the northern part of India.
They criticized the traditional religious practices and ordinary caste system. They condemned these practices with the help of simple but logical justifications.
Siddhacharas and Yogis were also part of the religious group of Nathpanthis.
These people were strict towards their teachings and beliefs. They believed that reflecting within ourselves is the key to attaining salvation.
Siddhas were free and intellectual souls, who attained enlightenment with the help of meditation and breathing exercises.
Yogis were those people who practiced yoga on a daily basis combined with meditation.
The only thing that established a link between Nathpanthis, Siddhas, and yogis was their key belief that we can obtain oneness with the supreme power with the help of meditation and self-reflection.
Their denunciation of historical religious beliefs made them very popular among lower social castes.
Nathpanthis, Siddhas and Yogis believed that if a person wants to be united with the supreme power then for that they will have to renounce the world and all the worldly luxuries. They talked about accepting the extreme reality.
They believed that if one will remain dedicated to meditation throughout their lives and find the true purpose of their life then this can help them to lead to the path of salvation to get united to supreme power which is the ultimate reality.
They spent their whole life training their body and mind with the help of yoga, reflection, and breathing exercises. As they believed that we can train our minds and body to see things from a different point of view.
They condemned the orthodox religious practices and rituals and taught a new form of attaining salvation and uniting souls to the supreme power.
They also went against the historic caste system of India. This is evident from the fact that most of its followers were from the lower castes.
Saints and Sufis were very similar to each other. One of the common features among them was the passionate love toward god. Both of them believed that all human beings are equal and should be treated in a respectful way.
Sufi is an ascetic of the Muslim community. They believe in one god and are strictly and completely devoted to one god.
Just like Nathpanthis and saints, Sufis too questioned the pre-existing laws and rituals that had been followed by people for many years.
Like many saints and poets, Sufis also composed many poems and prayers to express their love for god.
Many Nathpanthis, Siddhas, and Yogis believed that we can train our minds and body to see things from a different point of view. Similarly, Sufis believed that the heart can be trained to see things from a different point of view.
Many methods were developed to train our hearts. The methods were Zikr, contemplation, Sama, Raqs, breathing exercise, etc. They are trained by masters.
Sufi saints were considered a person who possessed supernatural power and could treat all the problems.
Maharashtra is the state that had a great no. of saints - poets between the thirteenth and seventeenth. Most of their work was in their mother tongue, that is Marathi.
Some of the saint - poets are Namdev, Eknath, Tukaram. Most of them were the devotees of Vitthala, which is a form of Vishnu. Their songs also talk about the god that lies within a person.
The saint-poets believed in and promoted equality. They condemned the social caste system.
They also supported women and there were also many women saints - poets like Sakkubai.
They were very different from other religious groups as they even criticized the notion of renunciation and asked people to live with their families and spend a happy life as any other person.
But they focused on serving the needy people. Which gave a new direction to bhakti, which says that we should help everyone who is suffering and needs help. This gave a humanist approach to Bhakti.
A famous saint-poet, Narsi Mehta from Gujarat said, “They are Vaishnavas who understand the pain of others.”
People strongly believed in the supreme power. Each and every person wants to attain peace and reside in the shade of god. So, to do that people came up with many ideas and started having different beliefs. Some believed that they can achieve salvation by passionately worshipping god, some believed that they can be united with god if they help needy people, and some believed that they can attain salvation if they renounce worldly pleasures, there were also people who believed that they can be united with god if they treat every human equally and respectfully. Many religious groups were formed to spread new bhakti ideas. Many Saint-poets wrote beautiful poems for their beloved god. The spread of the new bhakti idea also helped society to get rid of its evil practices like the caste system, ill-treatment of women, etc. It also inspired people to help needy people.
Q1. Write a few lines about the Vitthala temple.
Ans. Vitthala temple was built in the seventeenth century by king Vishnuvardhana of the Hoysala Empire in Pandharpur. This temple is dedicated to Vittahala which is a form of lord Vishnu.
Q2. What are Zikr, Sama, and Raqs?
Ans. Zikr refers to the chanting of the name of the god in continuity. Singing poems and prayers in the praise of god is called Sama. Raqs referred to dancing in Muslim texts.
Q3. Why did the tomb or dargah of a Sufi saint become a place of pilgrimage for thousands of people of all faiths?
Ans. People started believing that Sufis have supernatural power, and can treat all the problems due to which the tomb or dargah of a Sufi saint becomes a place of pilgrimage for thousands of people of all faiths.
Q4. What do you understand by the term hospices?
Ans. Hospices refer to the assembly halls where Sufis used to conduct their assemblies. Hospices are also called Khanqahs. People from all castes used to gather over here and discussed religious matters and took blessings from the Sufis.
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