[Advaita-l] devotion in advaita?

[Suresh]

Namaste,

What's the role of devotion in advaita? Is it necessary at all, or is meditation on 'I am' the only sadhana that matters? I can understand dualistic traditions emphasizing bhakti, but what are we to do as advaitins? It further confuses me that Sankara, Madhusudhana, and many others were devotees. 

I just can't wrap my head around this bhakti concept, how it'd help us in realization, so some insights would be appreciated.

Regards,