TyAgarAja
No musician, with exception of Purandaradasa, revolutionized and gave direction to Indian music as he did. So creative a musician and saint was he that he has come to be known as Sri Tyaga Brahmam, which is a reference not only to his creativity but carries with it a part of his father's name, Ramabrahmam
The only things that mattered to Tyagayya were music and bhakti - they were synonymous. Music was to him the meditation on the Primordial Sound. Tyagaraja was a great bhakta; the only meaningful act for him was complete surrender to Him whom he called Rama. There was not a moment of his life which was not filled with Rama. His songs sing of Him who was a friend, a master, a father,- anything he could conceive of. Hearing of Rama's name was to Tyagaraja like "obtaining a large kingdom".
Tyagabrahma undertook an extensive pilgrimage of the sacred places of South India. Wherever he went he sang of the deity of the place. There is the famous incident of his visit to the Venkateswara temple at Tirupati. He goes into the temple to have darsan (vision) of the Lord; but the entrance of the sanctum sanctorum is covered with a curtain which prevents him from seeing the idol. The priests refuse to part the curtain. In great sorrow he sings, "Will you not remove the curtain?" ...and characteristically adds, "the curtain of vanity and jealousy in my mind". The curtain miraculously slides aside by itself and he is face to face with Him.
Swami Haridas
From a very young age Haridas was drawn to a life of a recluse and became a sanyasi. He shifted his residence to Brindavan, the playground of the Immortal Cowherd and his love Radha. There he built his asram (hermitage) in Nidhuvan and sang his songs of the love of Radha-Krishna. Swami Haridas belonged to the tradition of madhura bhakti - Adoration expressed in erotic terms. It is said that he was deeply affected by the teachings of the Andhra philosopher and bhakta, Nimbarka. Swami Haridas began the Haridasi school of mysticism and had many spiritual disciples.
Haridas was deeply learned and widely acquainted with the music of his days. He was not only a great musician but also a great teacher. Swami Haridas' compositions may strictly be classed as Vishnupadas, that is, songs in praise of Lord Vishnu (Lord Krishna). But even his prabhandas which do not refer to Krishna have come to be known as Vishnupadas.
Narasiha Mehta
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
Sant Eknath
Sant Gyaneshwara
Sant Ramadas
Sant Tukaram
Mirabai
Mirabai or Meera is perhaps the most famous North Indian singer and saint. She left her life as a Rajasthani princess, having renounced her royal life for one devoted to Lord Krishna, her beloved aspect of the Divine.
Swami Vivekananda
The essence of Swamiji's message was "UNIVERSAL RELIGION". The message was to unify the religious vision of humanity. It aroused a wave of new thought in the Western world causing it to be conscious of the East and its contrasting thought. In propounding his theory he examined the three major ingredients of all religions, viz., the philosophy, the mythology and the rituals. With his penetrating logic he ruled out the possibility of having any common philosophy, any common mythology or any common rituals acceptable to all the human beings everywhere. Each human being is equipped with three ways to acquire knowledge: instinct, reason and intuition. The Universal Religion must satisfy the variations of the human mind.
Dr. Hedgewar
Guru Golwalkarji
H.H. Swami Chinmayananda was world renowned authority of the scriptures of India, especially Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads. His was the life of selfless service to others. He is the author of more than thirty books, each one is a masterpiece, dealing with the philosophical principles behind the religion. He made mysterious and elusive vedantic principles easily understandable for common people like us. He is the founder of Chinmaya Mission, through which the work that he initiated and was so dear to him, is carried out in the form of spreading the message of vedanta, overseeing numerous cultural, educational and social service activities. There is a biography of this great spiritual master, entitled Journey of a Master: Swami Chinmayananda.
Swami Prabhupada
Swami Prabhupada was a follower of Sarasvati Gosvami. Srila Prabhupada wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad-gita, assisted the Gaudiya Matha in its work, and, in 1944, started Back to Godhead, an English fortnightly magazine. Single-handedly, Srila Prabhupada edited it, typed the manuscripts, checked the galley proofs, and even distributed the individual copies. He adopted the vanaprastha (retired) order to devote more time to his studies and writing. He traveled to the holy city of Vrndavana, where he lived in humble circumstances in the historic temple of Radha- Damodara. There he engaged for several years in deep study and writing. He accepted the renounced order of life (sanyasa) in 1959. At Radha-Damodara, Srila Prabhupada began work on his life's masterpiece: a multivolume commentated translation of the eighteen-thousand-verse Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana). He also wrote Easy Journey to Other Planets. He also wrote three volumes of the Bhagavatam.
Krishnamurti
He travelled round the world speaking as a private person, teaching - giving talks and having discussions. Many of these talks have been published as books, audio and video tapes. The text of all this material - equivalent to about 200 books - is available on "The Krishnamurti Text Collection". Krishnamurti evolved his unique teaching from his own being and living, for he had read no religious or philosophical literature. His aim was to set people psychologically free so that they might be in harmony with themselves, with nature and with others. He taught that mankind has created the environment in which he lives and that nothing can ever put a stop to the violence and suffering that has been going on for thousands of years except a transformation in the human psyche. If only a dozen people are transformed, it would change the world. During his life time he established several schools in different parts of the world where young people and adults could come together and explore this possibility further in actual daily living.
Swami ChandrashekaraSaraswathi
Swami JayendrashekaraSaraswathi
Swami Vijayendra Saraswathi
The Bhakti movement (BM) was a forerunner of Sikhism. This movement owes its influence to Alvar and Adyar saints, the exponents of their creed (Madhva, Vishnu, Swami, Vallabha and others), and above all, to Ramanuja. The main points of the teaching of the Bhaktas are that God is one, and though he is indescribable, He is the only Reality; the rest is Maya (- anything that detaches you from God). The best way to serve God is by absolute submission to His will. The way to approach Him is through meditation and the chanting of mantras and the singing of hymns. This can best be achieved under the guidance of a spiritual mentor, a Guru.
The cult of Bhakti was popularised in Northern India by Ramanand. It was his disciple Kabir who, more than any other, spread the message of Bhakti across the Indo- Gangetic Plan. Other, Bhaktas who spread the message are: Chaitnya in Bengal, Namdev, Trilochan and Parmanand in Maharasthra, Vallabha Swami in Andhra Pradesh and Sadhana in Sindh. The writings of some of them are included in the Adi Granth.
Periyalvar (Srivilliputtur) - top left
Andal - top right
Thirumazhisai Alvar - middle left
Nammalvar - middle center
ThiruppaaN Alvar - middle right
Thirumangai Alvar - bottom left
Thondar-adi-podi Alvar - bottom center
Kulasekhara Alvar - bottom right
Not shown:
Poygai Alvar
Bhuthatth Alvar
Pey Alvar
Madhurakavi Alvar