The Bhakti Movement In India

1.4.4 Contemporary Period- At the time of the advent of the British rule in India, the status and position of Indian woman were very stumpy. "Customs such as of polygamy, the purdah, the denial of a woman’s right over property, child marriages, and Sati etc., during this period resulted in the development of a very weak personality of Indian woman." The British influence had a very deep impression in the minds of Indian leaders. The reformist movements started in the 19th century, brought social reformers such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and many others, who were in the forefront of the struggle for women emancipation and empowerment Gandhi’s

"The Bhakti movement organized by Ramanujacharya during this period introduced new trends in the social and religious life of Indian women. The saints like Chaitanya, Nanak, Kabir, Meera, Ramdas and Tulsi stood for the right of women to religious worship. Hence, this movement, at least, provided religious freedom to women." As a result of this freedom, they secured certain social freedom also. The saints motivated women to read religious books and to educate themselves. Although the Bhakti movement gave a new life to women, this movement did not bring any considerable change in economic status of women. Therefore, women continued to hold low status in the

The declaration of 1975-85 decade as the International Women’s decade also gave impetus to women’s movements for removing the perception of inferiority of women and giving them a sense of self respect and identity. The Central Social Welfare Board (CSWB) established by the Government of India in 1953, also promotes and strengthens volunteer efforts for the welfare of women. The Ministry of Welfare, Government of India, too, gives grants to voluntary organizations for activities like construction/expansion of hostels for working women in cities.The analysis of six types of movements suggests that movements are generally initiated and spread by charismatic leaders or by political parties and religious organizations. In the former case, the ideologies are transmitted downwards while in the latter case, these are transmitted upwards. Once any movement based on certain ideology changes, it is not necessary that it will spread in the course of time, it can gain in strength and it can also lose its vitality either because it is considered irrelevant or because it is suppressed by the