Why did bhakti movement of India attracted women?

Answer 1

Bhakti yoga is often associated with the worship of Krishna, and in Bhagavad Gita (The Song of the Blessed Lord), Lord Krishna states that ANYONE, male or female, from the upper castes or the lowest castes, can be saved from the wheel of birth and death if they will only serve Him. This is actually a revolutionary idea-- Krishna as the saviour god, says that the Caste System, where the Brahmins ruled (and sometimes oppressed the lower castes) can be transcended entirely. All that is necessary is to devote oneself to worshipping Krishna. And even more important, Krishna says that it doesn't even matter if you are poor-- if you offer Him a leaf, a flower, fruit or water with love, He will accept it.

Bhakti is the yoga of devotional service to a deity, where worshippers sing to the deity, dress and decorate the deity's image in the temple, offer prayers and rituals before the deity, and chant the deity's holy names so that they are always remembering and thinking of the deity. The attraction of it was that it was remarkably egalitarian, compared to other forms of worship that denied women, the poor and the darker skinned people any opportunity for a better life, other than suffering quietly and waiting to be reborn into a better status. But to Krishna, the fact that a worshipper was poor or black or female was not a hindrance. Krishna often stressed that it did not matter what caste a believer came from. Whoever served Him faithfully and lovingly would be permitted to attain the Spiritual World, rather than having to endure birth after birth until all of one's accumulated karma had been worked out.

Answer 2

because it did not believe in hard penace