Consider the following statements regarding the impact of the Bhakti movement on the status of women:
1. The movement provided a legitimate space for women (like Mirabai, Akka Mahadevi, and Lalded) to express their spirituality and break free from domestic confines.
2. It successfully led to the legal abolition of patriarchal practices like Sati, Purdah, and female infanticide across medieval India.
3. Despite their spiritual elevation, women saints often faced severe social backlash and had to openly defy traditional gender norms to pursue their path.
Which of the statements given above are correct?

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Accepted Answer

Statement 2 is incorrect. The Bhakti movement was fundamentally a spiritual and socio-cultural awakening, not a legislative political movement. It did not eradicate structural patriarchal evils like Sati or Purdah from society. Statements 1 and 3 correctly highlight that it gave women a spiritual voice, though usually at the cost of immense social resistance.

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