The Bhakti Movement was a rapid growth of bhakti, first starting in the later part of 1st millennium CE, from Tamil Nadu in Southern India with the Saiva Nayanars[REF] and the Vaisnava Alvars.
Scholars state that the bhakti movement focussed on the gods Vishnu, Shiva, Shakti and other deities, that developed and spread in India, was in response to the arrival of Islam in India about 8th century CE,[REF] and subsequent religious violence [REF].