The Bhakti Movement

P. Govinda Pillai (b.1926) graduated from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai. He became a full time political, social and cultural activist after his student life and was elected four times to the Kerala State Legislature, first as a representative of the Communist Party of India and later, the Communist Party of India (M). He was the Chief Editor of Desabhimani, the CPI(M)’s mouthpiece in Malayalam, for more than two decades. He has headed many institutions including the Kerala State Film Corporation, Centre for Imaging Technology, Kerala State Press Akademi etc. He is the author of about 35 books based on a range of subjects including Marxist asesthetics, literarture and culture, social movements and science.

PART I: THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 1. The Cult and Movement 2. Declining Buddhism, Resurging Hinduism 3. The Problems of Origin and Nature 4. The Chronology and Geography 5. Social and Political Background 6. ‘Kali’: A Curse or Blessing? 7. The Warring Princes and Foreign Conquerors 8. The Triumvirate and Duumvirate 9. Heartland Moves South PART II: A THOUSAND-YEAR STORY 10. Bhagavata Purana 11. The First Blossoms from the Deep South 12. Hindu Reformation 13. Nayanars 14. The Alvars 15. Vridhim Karnatake Gata 16. Bhakta Mira 17. Surdas: The Blind Singer 18. Ramananda and the Ramanandis 19. Varkaries, Vithoba and Pandharpur 20. Chokhamela: The Untouchable Saint 21. Tulsidas and Rama Bhakti 22. Guru Nanak and the Sikhs 23. Sufism and Bhakti 24. Bhakti and Fanaticism in Kashmir 25. Assam and Sankara Deva’s Vaishnavite Reforms 26. Chaitanya and Bengal Vaishnavism 27. Many Streams of Bhakti in Andhra 28. Dadupanthis and Panchavani 29. Kerala: A Latecomer 30. Conclusion