History

Mountbatten Plan : Congress and League reached at an agreement over partitioning two problem provinces of Punjab and Bengal so as to form absolute Hindu and Muslim majority blocks. The actual decision to partition however was left to the vote of members of Legislative assemblies of these two provinces, meeting in two parts, according to a plan known as ‘Mountbatten Plan’. One part representing muslim majority districts and the other the rest of the province. The members of each part will be empowered to vote whether or not the province should be partitioned. If a simple majority of either Part decided in favor of partition, division will take place. If partition were decided upon, each part of legislative assembly would decide whether it would join the existing or a new and separate Constituent Assembly. Indian Independence Act, 1947 : • It declared that India ceased to be a Dependency and the suzerainty of Crown over Indian states with effect from 15 August, 1947. Office of Secretary of State of India was abolished. Crown was not longer source of authority of neither India nor Pakistan.• Governor Generals of 2 dominions and Provincial governors to act as constitutional heads.• There was not longer executive council or Consellors as envisaged in GoI Act, 1935. The words ‘in his discretion’ and ‘individual judgement’ were removed from GoI Act, 1935, wherever they occurred in act. Thus GG and Governors of provinces lost their extra ordinary powers of legislation so as to compete with legislature. • The central legislature ceased to exist on 15 August 1947. Newly formed constituted Constituent assembly was to also function as Central legislature of dominion until new legislature was constituted under new constitution.

Varkari-tradition : The Varkari-tradition is a non-Brahamanical tradition which worships Vithoba, also known as Vitthal, who is regarded as a form of Vishnu or Krishna. Vithoba is often depicted as a dark young boy, standing arms akimbo on a brick, sometimes accompanied by his main consort Rakhumai. The Varkari-tradition is geographically associated with the Indian states of Maharashtra and northern Karnataka. The Varkari movement includes a duty-based approach towards life, emphasising moral behavior and strict avoidance of alcohol and tobacco, The adoption of a strict lacto-vegetariandiet and fasting on Ekadashi day (twice a month), self-restraint (brahmacharya) during student life, equality and humanity for all rejecting discrimination based on the caste system or wealth, the reading of Hindu texts, the recitation of the Haripath every day and the regular practice of bhajan and kirtan.

Dandekar theory : In Dandekar theory, Vaishnavism emerged at the end of the Vedic period, closely before the second urbanisation of northern India, in the 7th to 4th century BCE. Early writings in Dravidian culture such as Manimekalai and the Cilappatikaram present Krishna, his brother, and favourite female companions in the similar terms. Vaishnavism flourished in predominantly Shaivite South India during the seventh to tenth centuries CE with the twelve Alvars, saints who spread the sect to the common people with their devotional hymns. The Bhakti movement of late medieval Hinduism started in the 7th-century, but rapidly expanded after the 12th-century This period saw the growth of Vashnavism Sampradayas (denominations or communities) under the influence of scholars such as Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya, Nimbarkacharyaand Vallabhacharya. Ramanuja in the 11th century and Madhva in the 13th, building their theology on the devotional tradition of the Alvars (Shri Vaishnavas). In North and Eastern India, Krishnaism gave rise to various late Medieval movements: Nimbarka and Ramananda – 14th century, Kabir and Sankaradeva – 15th and Vallabha and Caitanya – 16th century. All of the Vaishnava Upanishads either directly reference and quote from the ancient Principal Upanishads or incorporate some ideas found in them; most cited texts include the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Chandogya Upanishad, Katha Upanishad, Isha Upanishad, Mundaka Upanishad, Taittiriya Upanishad and others The Pancaratra texts present the Vyuhas theory of avatars to explain how the absolute reality (Brahman) manifests into material form of ever changing reality (Vishnu avatar). Vasudeva, state the Pancaratra texts, goes through a series of emanations, where new avatars of him appear. This theory of avatar formation syncretically integrates the theories of evolution of matter and life developed by the Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy In the Varkari movement the following scriptures are considered sacred in addition to general body of the common writing: [citation needed] • Dyaneshawri • Tukaram-Gatha • Sopandevi • Namdev-Gatha • Eknathi-Bhagwat The Bhakti movement originated among Vaishnavas of South India during the 7th-century CE, spread northwards from Tamil Nadu through Karnataka and Maharashtra towards the end of 13th-century, and gained wide acceptance by the fifteenth-century throughout India during an era of political uncertainty and Hindu-Islam conflicts. Important sites of pilgrimage for Vaishnavs include Guruvayur Temple, Sri Rangam, Vrindavan, Mathura, Ayodhya, Tirupati, Pandharpur (Vitthal), Puri (Jaggannath), Nira Narsingpur (Narasimha), Mayapur, Nathdwara and Dwarka. The Vaishnavism traditions may be grouped within four sampradayas, each exemplified by a specific Vedic personality. They have been associated with a specific founder, providing the following scheme: Brahma Sampradaya (Madhvacharya), Sri Sampradaya (Ramanuja), Rudra Sampradaya (Vishnuswami, Vallabhacharya), Kumaras sampradaya (Nimbarka) The Alvars, “those immersed in god,” were ten or twelve Tamil poet-saints of South India who espoused bhakti (devotion) to the Hindugod Vishnu or his avatar Krishna in their songs of longing, ecstasy and service. The Alvars appeared between the 5th century to the 10th century CE, though the Vaishnava tradition regards the Alvars to have lived between 4200 BCE – 2700 BCE.