A medieval devotional movement (roughly 7th to 17th centuries) that stressed personal devotion (bhakti) to a single God, rejected ritualism, caste hierarchy, and priestly intermediaries, and used regional languages.
- Began in South India with the Alvars (devotees of Vishnu) and Nayanars (devotees of Shiva) from about the 7th to 10th centuries, then spread north.
- Divided into saguna (God with form, for example Tulsidas, Surdas, Mirabai) and nirguna (formless God, for example Kabir, Guru Nanak).
- Key saints: Ramanuja (Vishishtadvaita philosophy), Ramananda (north India), Kabir (Hindu-Muslim synthesis), Guru Nanak (founder of Sikhism), Chaitanya (Bengal), Namdeva and Tukaram (Maharashtra).
- Promoted social equality, vernacular literature, and Hindu-Muslim harmony; rejected idol worship and caste in its nirguna strand.
- Drew influences from and ran parallel to the Sufi movement; both stressed love and devotion over ritual.
Saint-to-region and saint-to-philosophy matching (Ramanuja, Kabir, Nanak, Mirabai), and the saguna versus nirguna divide are recurring medieval-history facts.
Saguna (God with form) versus nirguna (formless God); the Bhakti movement (Hindu devotional) is distinct from but parallel to the Sufi movement (Islamic mysticism).
Medieval devotional movement of personal devotion in regional languages, rejecting ritual and caste; saguna and nirguna strands.