Mara ̄thı ̄ kingdom, was a disciple of Ra ̄mda ̄s who presented Ra ̄ma as the
militant prototype of a dharmic Hindu king. A tradition had been started in
Maharashtra wherein Ra ̄ma was politicized and “others” deemed to be
undesirable were homologized to Ra ̄van.a.^20
These Mara ̄thı ̄ poets were both reflecting and catalyzing the popular
forms that religion was taking in Western India. Pilgrimage, especially to
Pandharpur where the god Vit.hoba ̄ was enshrined, was one form of this
devotionalism. Yet another was the way Hanuman became a popular deity,
especially after the time of Ra ̄mda ̄s. (Ra ̄mda ̄s had equated Vit.hoba ̄ with
Ra ̄ma and installed a Hanuman shrine at Pandharpur as Ra ̄ma’s protector.)
Known as Maruti in Mara ̄thı ̄-speaking country, Hanuman was the monkey
general in Ra ̄ma’s mythical army. Today he is portrayed as the protector-
deity and warrior par excellence, the epitome of fidelity, virility, and fitness,
an apt model for devout males to follow.^21
Benga ̄lı ̄
We have observed how in Bengal there were several religious currents at
work by the ninth and tenth centuries. There had been a significant
Buddhist presence until the eleventh century and a sizable Muslim presence,
especially in East Bengal, by the thirteenth century. Tantrism had been a
strong movement into the tenth century and a number of goddesses
emerged to the status of high deity by at least the twelfth century, especially
Durga ̄, Ka ̄lı ̄, and Ra ̄dha ̄. Ra ̄dha ̄’s popularity, in particular, was catalyzed by
the appearance of Jayadeva’s Gı ̄ta Govindain the twelfth century. Jayadeva’s
Sanskrit text was influenced by a variety of sources: the Bha ̄gavata Pura ̄n.a;
the songs of the Tamil A ̄l
̄
va ̄rs(probably brought to Bengal by pilgrims during
the Co ̄l
̄
a period); and tantrism. No doubt folk traditions were a part of the
mix especially those associated with the herding communities. The Gı ̄ta
Govindarhapsodized about Kr.s.n.a as a lovable, approachable local “cowherd”
god whose love for the gopı ̄s, and especially Ra ̄dha ̄, was celebrated. The erotic
imagery and allegories associated with this relationship came to be sung,
danced, and enacted throughout India. The text served to classicize stories
and traditions that earlier may have been found only amongst peoples living
on the “margins” of society, and which in their earlier form may have had
anti-establishment, even anti-brahman intimations.^22
Chandı ̄d a ̄s, a fourteenth-century poet, sang extensively to the mother
goddess and to Kr.s.n.a and Ra ̄dha ̄. The Kr.s.n.a Kı ̄rtan.(songs for Kr.s.n.a) became
a favored form of expressing devotion in groups. Chandı ̄da ̄s also was not
averse to acting out his love for god by embodying it in a relationship with
a particular earthly person, a “recycling” of the tantric ritual tradition.^23
Vidya ̄pati(fourteenth to fifteenth century) composed in Maithilı ̄ nearly
144 Developments in the Late Medieval Period