VaishnavismVaishnavism (Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the sole supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, i.e. Mahavishnu. Its followers are called Vaishnavites or Vaishnavas (), and it includes sub-sects like Krishnaism and Ramaism, which consider Krishna and Rama as the supreme beings respectively. According to a 2010 estimate by Johnson and Grim, Vaishnavism is the largest Hindu sect, constituting about 641 million or 67.
RavidasRavidas or Raidas (1267–1335) was an Indian mystic poet-saint of the Bhakti movement during the 15th to 16th century CE. Venerated as a guru (spiritual teacher) in the modern regions of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana, he was a poet, social reformer and spiritual figure. The life details of Ravidas are uncertain and contested. Some scholars believe he was born in 1433 CE. He taught removal of social divisions of caste and gender, and promoted unity in the pursuit of personal spiritual freedom.
RamanandaRamananda (IAST: Rāmānanda) or Swami Ramanand was a 14th-century Vaishnava devotional poet saint, who lived in the Gangetic basin of northern India. The Hindu tradition recognizes him as the founder of the Ramanandi Sampradaya, the largest monastic Hindu renunciant community in modern times. Born in a Gaur Brahmin family, Ramananda for the most part of his life lived in the holy city of Varanasi.
NamdevNamdev (Pronunciation: [naːmdeʋ]), also transliterated as Nam Dayv, Namdeo, Namadeva, (traditionally, 26 October 1270-3 July 1350) was a Marathi Vaishnav saint from Narsi, Hingoli, Maharashtra, India within the Varkari tradition of Hinduism. He lived as a devotee of Lord Vitthal of Pandharpur. He is widely regarded as the founder of Varkari tradition. Namdev was influenced by Vaishnavism and became widely known in India for his devotional songs set to music (bhajan-kirtans).
KabirKabir (1398–1518) was a well-known Indian mystic poet and saint. His writings influenced Hinduism's Bhakti movement, and his verses are found in Sikhism's scripture Guru Granth Sahib, the of Saint Garib Das, and Kabir Sagar of Dharamdas. Born in the city of Varanasi in what is now Uttar Pradesh, he is known for being critical of both organized religion and religions. He questioned what he regarded to be the meaningless and unethical practices of all religions, primarily what he considered to be the wrong practices in the Hindu and Muslim religions.
MirabaiMeera, better known as Mirabai and venerated as Sant Meerabai, was a 16th-century Hindu mystic poet and devotee of Krishna. She is a celebrated Bhakti saint, particularly in the North Indian Hindu tradition. Mirabai was born into a Rathore Rajput royal family in Kudki (modern-day Nagaur district of Rajasthan) and spent her childhood in Merta. She is mentioned in Bhaktamal, confirming that she was widely known and a cherished figure in the Bhakti movement culture by about 1600 CE.
TukaramSant Tukaram Maharaj (Marathi pronunciation: [t̪ukaːɾam]) was a 17th-century Marathi Saint, Hindu sant (saint), popularly known as Tuka, Tukobaraya, Tukoba in Maharashtra. He was a Sant of Varkari sampradaya (Marathi-Vaishnav tradition) - that venerates the God Vitthal - in Maharashtra, India. He was part of the egalitarian, personalized Varkari devotionalism tradition. Sant Tukaram Maharaj is best known for his devotional poetry called Abhanga and community-oriented worship with spiritual songs known as kirtan.
MathaA matha (/mʌt/; मठ, ), also written as math, muth, mutth, mutt, or mut, is a Sanskrit word that means 'institute or college', and it also refers to a monastery in Hinduism. An alternative term for such a monastery is adheenam. The earliest epigraphical evidence for mathas related to Hindu-temples comes from the 7th to 10th century CE. The most famous Advaita Vedanta mathas or peethams, which came to be affiliated with the Advaita tradition in the 14th century, are Govardhanmaṭha Pīṭhaṃ at Puri, Odisha; Śārada Pīṭhaṃ at Sringeri, Karnataka; Kalika Pīṭhaṃ at Dvāraka, Gujarat; Jyotirmaṭha Pīṭhaṃ at Badari, Uttarakhand; and Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham at Kanchi, Tamil Nadu.
Indian religionsIndian religions, sometimes also termed Dharmic religions or Indic religions, are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent. These religions, which include Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, are also classified as Eastern religions. Although Indian religions are connected through the history of India, they constitute a wide range of religious communities, and are not confined to the Indian subcontinent. Evidence attesting to prehistoric religion in the Indian subcontinent derives from scattered Mesolithic rock paintings.
RavidassiaRavidassia or the Ravidas Panth is a branch of Sikhism based on the teachings of Guru Ravidass and Guru Nanak who is revered as a satguru. Historically, Ravidassia represented a range of beliefs in the Indian subcontinent, with some devotees of Ravidass counting themselves as Ravidassia, but first formed in the early 20th-century in colonial British India. The Ravidassia tradition began to take on more cohesion following 1947, and the establishment of successful Ravidassia tradition in the diaspora.
