In South India and beyond, Bhakti saints composed devotional songs in vernacular languages, entering ecstatic trances to sing of personal devotion to deities like Krishna or Shiva. Figures like Andal and Mirabai challenged social norms. It mattered by making mysticism accessible and democratizing literature.

Bhakti ecstatic songs shaped Indian poetry and music, influencing Tagore and global devotional forms. It emphasized emotional altered states in verse, impacting feminist and inclusive literary voices.