South India's 75 Apostles of Bhakti

South India's 75 Apostles of Bhakti are the twelve Alvars (also, Aazhvaars, Aazhwaars) and sixty-three Nayanmars (also Nayanars, Naayanars, Naayanmaars). They were all great devotees of the Lord most of whom came from the Tamil region. The last of them lived in the 9th century A.D.

Pious devotees and singers

For all these, religion was a poignant human experience of togetherness with either Lord into a religion of the masses rooted in Devotion as the only path for salvation. This resurgence of Bhakti came in such a massive way that it may be compared to the European Renaissance of the sixteenth century. It challenged the orthodoxy in its strongest sphere, namely the cognitive, by demystifying the myths associated with the rigidities of caste system, domination of priestly hierarchy and mindless proliferation of rituals.

Icons of temple worship

While north India produced Saints who wrote poetry and sang devotional music like Mirabai, Kabir and Surdas, they were not immortalised in art to be worshipped in temples. Saints of the western world are frequently portrayed in art, but their presence in churches and cathedrals does not seem to be universal . By contrast, icons of these 12 Vaishnava and 63 Saivate saints are iconised at various Vishnu and Shiva Temples respectively.