The Gupta inscriptions indicate that along with other cults, Bhagavatism or the cult of Vishnu flourished side by side in all parts of the country. Inscriptions bearing Bhagavata affiliations have been found in Bankura (West Bengal), Tusam (Haryana), Bhitari (U.P) and even Bogra (now in Bangladesh) and Junagadh (Kathiawar). When the Gupta empire disintegrated, there was no decline among the followers of the Bhagavata sect.
South India also witnessed the prevalence of Bhagavatism at that time. The dynasties following the Satvahanas like the early Pallavas, Salankayanas, Vakatakas, Pandyas, Cholas, etc. had active patrons of the faith. Vaishnava shrines from 7th-8th century still extent in the Deccan show the popularity of the faith among the subjects of the early Chalukyas and later Pallavas. The wide prevalence of the faith in South India in the late Gupta and early post-Gupta periods was evident in the temples at Badami, Pattadakal, Lakhundi, etc. in Deccan and Kanchi, Mahabalipuram, etc. in Tamil Land.
The term Vaishnava had come to be used around the middle of the fifth century AD. The coins of the Traikutaka Kings (fifth century) as also of the Guijara-Pratihara dynasty (middle of the eighth century) bore the legend Parama Vaishnava. Vishnu was now more popular than Vasudeva-Krishna who alongwith Narayana built up the mythology of the creed. (Narayana, Vishnu and Vasudeva-Krishna).
Yoga and Sun worship associated with the creed long ago and enunciated in the Bhagavad Gita and in the Narayana section of the Mahabharata was elaborated upon in this period. Krishna was regarded as the most perfect avatar of Vishnu in line with the Theory of Avatarism (Incarnation) in the Gita, indicating that Pancharatra-Bhagavata creed was now a part of the orthodox Vedism.
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In South India, Vaishnavism was made popular by the Alvars, a Tamil word meaning those who were completely submerged (in their devotion to the Lord).
The Bhakti cults not only ignored caste regulations, but included all kinds of people within the movement. Among the Nayanmar Karaikal (saints), Ammai was a woman and Nandanar was a member of the depressed class. The Alvars had Andal who was a woman and the hymnist Tiruppan who was from a low caste.
Thus the movement carried with it a protest and the spirit of reform. Unfortunately, it lost its character when it became a part of the establishment, failed to continue with its earlier zeal and became enmeshed in Brahmanical orthodoxy.
The Bhakti movement ran almost parallel to the growth and development of the early medieval monarchies in the south, first under the Pallavas and then under the Cholas, Pandyas and Cheras.