Decoding Mythology: Feet of Fortune
Bhakti originally did not mean submission. It meant participation in the life of the divine. People had long been ‘upasakas’ or worshippers of trees, animals, rocks and saints, as well as ‘shravaka’ or followers of hermits and gurus. This new idea was different. Temples were not serene centres of meditation — where people went to renounce the world. They were different from Vedic yagna-shalas, restricted to priests and their royal patrons. These were centres to celebrate life itself.
Temples or devalayas were the residences of divine beings who occupied stone and metal icons, who had to be bathed every day, dressed, fed, entertained and during festivals taken on joy rides on chariots and boats.
There were ceremonies to celebrate their marriages and victories on the battlefield and other stories of their lives, and people were invited and encouraged to participate in them. This was the original bhakti movement.
Thriving on inequality
Temple lore invariably includes stories of devotees not permitted to enter temples because they belong to ‘impure’ professions. Forced to stay outside, they compose fabulous poetry, which makes them very popular. Such stories reveal a dark side that coexists with the rise of the temple movement. The stratification of society on the basis of purity.
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