• Sai Divya Darshan

The Bhakti movement as a social movement challenged caste hierarchy, emphasised the possibility of salvation for an individual through good deeds and simple living. As a literary movement, it liberated poetry from classical clutches and made it accessible to the common man and aided in breaking gender stereotypes. The Bhakti movement witnessed the extensive involvement of women saints. These saints broke many established norms of society during their lifetimes and even went to the extent of discarding clothes and redefining the idea of the domestic and outside world. This paper explores the ‘Vachanas’ of Akka Mahadevi who was a 12th century Bhakti poet-saint, who did not conform to the traditional notion of femininity. It also elucidates the need for a closer understanding of literature from regional languages to bring about national integration and develop national consciousness, by paving the way to literary internationalism. In this context, the role of translation is important to bridge the gap between isolated regional literature and mainstream literature, to bring it to a wider reading spectrum.

Bhakti poetry, femininity, spiritual eroticism, brahminical hegemony, gender, patriarchy, translation, regional literature, agency, identity

"Finding the Roots of Feminist Movement in India: Analysis of Akka Mahadevi's Vachanas and the Power of Feminine Narrative in Social Transformation ", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.10, Issue 9, page no.f618-f622, September-2023, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2309574.pdf

"Finding the Roots of Feminist Movement in India: Analysis of Akka Mahadevi's Vachanas and the Power of Feminine Narrative in Social Transformation ", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.10, Issue 9, page no. ppf618-f622, September-2023, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2309574.pdf