New Delhi, Jan 5 (PTI) An upcoming book, “Rebellion in Verse: Resistance And Devotion In The Tamil Bhakti Movement”, explores how poetry, personal devotion, and radical inclusivity combined to shape a pan-Indian spiritual tradition centuries before it travelled north to influence saints like Meera, Kabir, and Guru Nanak.
Written by author Raghavan Srinivasan, the book, scheduled to release this month, illuminates the lives of saints from the margins, the fishermen Adipaththar, Periyalvar, the hunter Tirumangai Alvar, and women devotees like Andal, and poets from socially marginalised communities, whose hymns and iconography redefined spiritual authority.
It is published by Penguin Random House India (PRHI).
“‘Rebellion in Verse’ unfolds a journey that goes back to the sixth century CE — a time when many yearned for a reprieve from the constraints of Vedic orthodoxy and caste hierarchies.
“The Tamil Bhakti movement emerged as their clarion call, a grassroots surge of devotion that redefined spirituality and the social fabric itself,” reads the description of the book.
The book argues that long before Meera danced in the courts of Rajasthan or Kabir composed his couplets in Varanasi, “the seeds of India’s devotional revolution were already flourishing in Tamil Nadu”.
“In the sixth century, poet-saints like Appar, Sambandar, and Andal, alongside fishermen, hunters, and women from marginalized communities, began composing hymns in Tamil, challenging rigid caste hierarchies, priestly mediation, and Vedic ritualism. Their devotion was not just spiritual, it was social protest,” the publishers said in a statement.
It also claims to trace how their vernacular compositions in Tamil democratised religious life, making devotion accessible to ordinary people and leaving a legacy that continues to resonate across India.
Srinivasan’s previously authored books include “Rajaraja Chola”, “Yugantar”, “Dogged Pursuit” and “Indian Philosophy and Indian Cities”.
“Rebellion in Verse”, priced at Rs 999, is currently available for pre-order online. PTI MG MG MG
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