RAS question
The Kirtan-Bhajan tradition in Rajasthan was popularized by which saint movement?
Correct answer: (B) Bhakti Movement.
The Kirtan-Bhajan tradition in Rajasthan was popularised by the Bhakti Movement through devotional saints such as Meera Bai, Dadu Dayal and Pipa.
Explanation
The Bhakti Movement is the right answer because it centred religious practice on personal devotion and made that devotion public through accessible forms such as hymn singing. In Rajasthan, saints such as Meera Bai, Dadu Dayal and Pipa composed in local dialects, helping ordinary people participate in devotional music. Encyclopaedia Britannica supports the wider frame: bhakti emphasised an intense emotional bond between a devotee and a personal god, and devotional practices included singing hymns in praise of the deity. This fits the Kirtan-Bhajan tradition far more closely than a ritual, reformist or exclusively Sufi frame.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Buddhist tradition is not the best fit because Rajasthan's Kirtan-Bhajan spread is identified with Bhakti saints, while the option itself notes Buddhism had limited influence in Rajasthan.
- (C) Sufi Movement only is too narrow because the question asks about Kirtan-Bhajan, which is connected to Bhakti devotion, while Sufi practice is associated here with Qawwali rather than this tradition.
- (D) Arya Samaj is wrong because it came much later and does not explain the saint-led Kirtan-Bhajan tradition described through Meera Bai, Dadu Dayal and Pipa.
Concept
This tests Rajasthan's saint tradition within medieval cultural history, especially how devotional movements shaped popular religious practice. It recurs in RAS because folk religion, local dialect literature and saint movements are frequent links between history, art and culture.