The Ashtachhap, the eight poet-singers whose devotional songs are sung as haveli sangeet, belonged to the sect founded by
- A.Ramanuja
- B.Vallabhacharya
- C.Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
- D.Madhvacharya
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Vallabhacharya. Vallabhacharya founded the Pushtimarg, the path of grace, whose worship of Krishna as Shrinathji is centred at Nathdwara in Rajasthan. The eight poet-singers of the sect, four disciples of Vallabhacharya and four of his son Vitthalnath, are the Ashtachhap, and Surdas is the most famous among them. Their songs make up haveli sangeet.
Option A, Ramanuja, founded the Srivaishnava tradition of Vishishtadvaita in the south, linked to the Alvars and the Divya Prabandham. Option C, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, founded Gaudiya Vaishnavism in Bengal and popularised nagar kirtan. Option D, Madhvacharya, founded Dvaita philosophy at Udupi, and the Haridasa singers such as Purandara Dasa followed him. Only the Pushtimarg of Vallabhacharya has the Ashtachhap. Remember the chain: Vallabhacharya founded the Pushtimarg, Shrinathji at Nathdwara is its deity, the Ashtachhap are its eight poets and haveli sangeet is the music sung in its havelis.
Read the full article: Devotional Music of India: Bhajan, Kirtan and Qawwali
Practice Questions
View allThe development of qawwali in India is credited to which figure?
- A.Tansen
- B.Amir Khusrau
- C.Baiju Bawra
- D.Swami Haridas
Show answer
Khusrau lived in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and was the disciple of the Chishti saint Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi.
Read the full explanation →Abhang, the devotional verse sung for Vithoba of Pandharpur, belongs to which tradition?
- A.The Varkari tradition of Maharashtra
- B.The Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Bengal
- C.The Pushtimarg of Rajasthan
- D.The Lingayat tradition of Karnataka
Show answer
Abhang is Marathi devotional verse, and the word means unbroken. Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Eknath, Chokhamela and Tukaram composed abhangs for Vithoba of Pandharpur, and pilgrims still sing them on the wari to Pandharpur with the taal and the ektari.
Read the full explanation →The Baul singers, whose songs UNESCO proclaimed a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, belong mainly to which region?
- A.Rajasthan
- B.Assam
- C.Bengal
- D.Odisha
Show answer
The Bauls are wandering mystic minstrels of Bengal, on both sides of the border, whose songs blend Vaishnava Sahajiya and Sufi ideas and reject caste and ritual.
Read the full explanation →Which one of the following saints was a contemporary of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj?
- A.Tukaram
- B.Chaitanya
- C.Namdev
- D.Shankaracharya
Show answer
Sant Tukaram was a Varkari poet of the seventeenth century who composed abhangs for Vithoba of Pandharpur and lived in Dehu near Pune, in the years when Shivaji was building the Maratha state.
Read the full explanation →Sankirtana, the ritual singing, drumming and dancing inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List in 2013, belongs to which state?
- A.Manipur
- B.Kerala
- C.Tamil Nadu
- D.Tripura
Show answer
The Sankirtana of Manipur is the Vaishnava ritual music of the Meitei people, in which singers and drummers perform in the temple courtyard, the mandap, with the barrel drum called pung and with cymbals; the drum dance is the Pung Cholom.
Read the full explanation →