Over the centuries, poets have reminded us of the values we are in danger of forgetting as a society. The ideas of liberty, equality, fraternity and justice — the very values enshrined in our Constitution — have endured over centuries in the Bhakti tradition. The Bhakti poets always challenged the ideologies of their times that attempted to force the belief that people were not equal.

In this show, we explore the histories of these ideas in Bhakti poetry, and how they find resonance in the values underpinning the Constitution of a modern republic.

We take you on a listening experience to Pandharpur with the songs of Namdev and Tukaram, to Benares with the poetry of Kabir and Ravidas, to Rajasthan in the rapture of Meera’s devotion, and to northern Karnataka where sharanas sing the vachanas. But first, we visit post-Independence Bombay where the expression of these ideas find an avenue in the film music of the times.

Bhakti Republic is hosted by Amit Basole, faculty in Economics at Azim Premji University, where he also heads the Centre for Sustainable Employment. Basole has also hosted Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota - The World of Ghalib for Radio Azim Premji University.

CREDITS:

Akshay Ramuhalli, Bijoy Venugopal, Bruce Lee Mani, Narayan Krishnaswamy, Prashant Vasudevan, Riju R Krishna, Seema Seth, Shraddha Gautam, Supriya Joshi and Velu Shankar

Acknowledgements:

A special thanks to Atif Anwar, Omkar Deshmukh, Seema Hussain, S Pranesh (students at Azim Premji University)

Chart: Apple Podcasts – India – Music

Ranking history