UGC NET History Practice Question

Which of the following statements about early Bhakti Movement saints is correct?

Alvars were devoted to Shiva, and Nayanars were devoted to Vishnu

Alvars were devoted to Vishnu, and Nayanars were devoted to Shiva ✓

Both Alvars and Nayanars rejected the Tamil language in favor of Sanskrit

Both movements enforced strict Brahminical caste segregation

The Alvars were Vaishnava (Vishnu-devoted) poet-saints and the Nayanars were Shaiva (Shiva-devoted) poet-saints of early medieval Tamil Nadu — both composed in Tamil, not Sanskrit, and their bhakti generally cut across strict caste lines, a key reason the movement had broad social appeal.

The compiled devotional collection of the 12 Alvar saints is known as:

Nalayira Divya Prabandham ✓

Tevaram

Tirumurai

Periya Puranam

The Nalayira Divya Prabandham ("Four Thousand Divine Verses") is the compiled corpus of the 12 Alvar saints' Vaishnava devotional poetry — the Shaiva equivalent, compiled from the Nayanars, is the Tevaram (later incorporated into the larger Tirumurai collection).

The Tevaram contains the compiled devotional compositions of which famous Nayanar saints?

Appar, Sambandar, and Sundarar ✓

Manikkavachakar, Karaikkal Ammaiyar, and Nammalvar

Andal, Kulasekhara, and Periayalvar

Basavanna, Allama Prabhu, and Akka Mahadevi

The Tevaram compiles the Shaiva devotional hymns of the three major Nayanar saints Appar, Sambandar, and Sundarar — Nammalvar and Andal (option B/C names) belong instead to the Vaishnava Alvar tradition, a common point of confusion worth being careful about.

Who was the founder of the Virashaiva (or Lingayat) movement in 12th-century Karnataka?

Basavanna ✓

Ramanuja

Madhvacharya

Nimbarka

Basavanna founded the Virashaiva (Lingayat) movement in 12th-century Karnataka, a Shiva-devotional and strongly caste-critical tradition — distinct from the Vaishnava Vedanta philosophers Ramanuja, Madhva, and Nimbarka listed as distractors.

The philosophical doctrine of Advaita (Monism / Non-Dualism) was propounded systematically by which early medieval philosopher?

Adi Shankara ✓

Ramanuja

Madhva

Vallabha

Adi Shankara systematized Advaita Vedanta (absolute non-dualism, holding the individual soul and Brahman are ultimately identical) — the other three named philosophers each founded rival Vedanta schools (Vishishtadvaita, Dvaita, Shuddhadvaita respectively) that partly reacted against Shankara's pure monism.

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This question is part of our free Unit-Wise mock test series, drawn from the same real question bank used across every UGC NET History mock test on this site. For structured, chapter-by-chapter notes covering everything these questions test, see our UGC NET History Notes, or try the History Glossary Flashcard Quiz for daily term-by-term practice.