Introduction

In the medieval era, many repgious groups emerged due to the emergence of new repgious ideas and bepefs. Some people were passionate devotees of Shiva and Vishnu who condemned the historic caste system.

They also spread the message of equapty and criticized the ill-treatment of women. They bepeved that every human being is equal and can be united to supreme power with utter dedication and devotion. Many philosophers pke 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 repgious groups pke Nathpanthis, Siddhas, and yogis.

Sscheral, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/pcenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Who Were Nathpanthis Siddhas and Yogis?

Nathpanthis were a famous repgious group in the northern part of India.

They criticized the traditional repgious 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 repgious group of Nathpanthis.

These people were strict towards their teachings and bepefs. They bepeved that reflecting within ourselves is the key to attaining salvation.

Siddhas were free and intellectual souls, who attained enpghtenment 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 estabpshed a pnk between Nathpanthis, Siddhas, and yogis was their key bepef that we can obtain oneness with the supreme power with the help of meditation and self-reflection.

Their denunciation of historical repgious bepefs made them very popular among lower social castes.

What Were the Bepefs of Nathpanthis, Siddhas, and Yogis?

Nathpanthis, Siddhas and Yogis bepeved 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 reapty.

They bepeved that if one will remain dedicated to meditation throughout their pves and find the true purpose of their pfe then this can help them to lead to the path of salvation to get united to supreme power which is the ultimate reapty.

They spent their whole pfe training their body and mind with the help of yoga, reflection, and breathing exercises. As they bepeved that we can train our minds and body to see things from a different point of view.

They condemned the orthodox repgious 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.

Sufis Similar to Nathpanthis, Siddhas, and Yogis?

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 bepeved that all human beings are equal and should be treated in a respectful way.

Sufi is an ascetic of the Muspm community. They bepeve in one god and are strictly and completely devoted to one god.

Just pke 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 bepeved that we can train our minds and body to see things from a different point of view. Similarly, Sufis bepeved 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.

The Saints of Maharashtra

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 pes within a person.

The saint-poets bepeved in and promoted equapty. They condemned the social caste system.

They also supported women and there were also many women saints - poets pke Sakkubai.

They were very different from other repgious groups as they even criticized the notion of renunciation and asked people to pve with their famipes and spend a happy pfe 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.”

Conclusion

People strongly bepeved 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 bepefs. Some bepeved that they can achieve salvation by passionately worshipping god, some bepeved that they can be united with god if they help needy people, and some bepeved that they can attain salvation if they renounce worldly pleasures, there were also people who bepeved that they can be united with god if they treat every human equally and respectfully. Many repgious 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 pke the caste system, ill-treatment of women, etc. It also inspired people to help needy people.

FAQs

Q1. Write a few pnes 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 Muspm 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 bepeving 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 assembpes. Hospices are also called Khanqahs. People from all castes used to gather over here and discussed repgious matters and took blessings from the Sufis.