Bhakti has been central to India’s spiritual culture for thousands of years, but over the course of time, it became lost in rituals and prejudiced customs. Beginning around the sixth century C.E., a Bhakti revivalist movement developed around the writings of mystics who were extracting the essence of the ancient scriptures. These mystics were mostly in South India, and they expressed their intimate love and longing for God through philosophy, song, and poetry. Their devotional revelations were gradually expanded on by their disciples and organized into schools of devotional yoga by scholars and saints like Ramanuja (1017–1137), Madhva (1238–1317), Nimbarka (circa eleventh century), Vallabha (1479–1531), and Chaitanya (1486–1533).

Focusing on sincerity of intent and development of character, these revered teachers ushered in a movement that is still growing. In the 1960s, the Bhakti movement finally left India in the hands of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and arrived on the shores of countries all over the world. Still, while history provides an interesting context for the development of the Bhakti movement, Bhakti itself is timeless. Love for the Supreme is the eternal nature of all souls, and all religions or philosophies that strive to help their adherents awaken that love are essentially practicing Bhakti.