Shri Ramcharitmanas (Devanāgarī: श्रीरामचररतमानस), also spelt Shri Ramacharitamanasa, is an epic poem in Awadhi, composed by the 16th-century Indian poet Goswami Tulsidas (c.1532–1623). In the Ramcharitmanas, Tulsidas hints at having the Darshan of Shiva and Parvati in both dream and awakened state.Ĭomposition of Ramcharitmanas रामचररतमानस की रचना Shiva also predicted that Tulsidas' poetry would fructify like the Sama Veda. Shiva ordered Tulsidas to go to Ayodhya and compose poetry in Awadhi. Tulsidas woke up and saw both Shiva and Parvati who blessed him. On the eighth night, Shiva – whose famous Kashi Vishwanath Temple is located in Varanasi – is believed to have ordered Tulsidas in a dream to compose poetry in the vernacular instead of Sanskrit. Tradition holds that all the verses that he composed during the day, would get lost in the night. Tulsidas started composing poetry in Sanskrit in Varanasi on the Prahlada Ghat. I did not understand it then, since I was totally without cognition in childhood. “And then, I heard the same narrative from my Guru in a Sukarkhet (Varaha Kshetra). Tulsidas mentions this in the Ramcharitmanas. After some time, Narharidas took him to a particular Varaha Kshetra (a holy place with temple dedicated to Varaha – the boar avatar of Vishnu), where he first narrated the Ramayana to Tulsidas. Tulsidas started his learning at Ayodhya. When he was seven years old, his Upanayana ("sacred thread ceremony") was performed by Narharidas on the fifth day of the bright half of the month of Magha (January–February) at Ayodhya, a pilgrimage-site related to Rama. Tulsidas narrates the dialogue that took place during the first meeting with his guru in a passage in the Vinayapatrika. Rambola was given the Virakta Diksha (Vairagi initiation) with the new name of Tulsidas. At the age of five years, Rambola was adopted by Narharidas, a Vaishnava ascetic of Ramananda's monastic order who is believed to be the fourth disciple of Ramananda, or alternately, the disciple of Anantacharya. Most sources identify him as a Saryupareen Brahmin of the Parashar Gotra (lineage), although some sources claim he was a Kanyakubja or Sanadhya Brahmin. His parents were Hulsi and Atmaram Dubey. Although as many as seven places are mentioned as his birthplace, most scholars identify the place with Rajapur (Chitrakuta), a village on the banks of the Yamuna river in modern- day Uttar Pradesh. Tulsidas was born on saptami, the seventh day of shukla paksha, the bright half of the lunar Hindu calendar month Shraavana (July–August). The impact of Tulsidas and his works on the art, culture and society in India is widespread and is seen to date in vernacular language, Ramlila plays, Hindustani classical music, popular music, and television series. He has been acclaimed as one of the greatest poets in Hindi, Indian, and world literature. Tulsidas started the Ramlila plays, a folk-theatre adaption of the Ramayana. He founded the Sankatmochan Temple dedicated to Hanuman in Varanasi, believed to stand at the place where he had the sight of Hanuman. The Tulsi Ghat on the Ganges River in Varanasi is named after him.
Tulsidas spent most of his life in the city of Varanasi. He is also considered to be the composer of the Hanuman Chalisa, a popular devotional hymn dedicated to Hanuman, the divine devotee of Rama.
Tulsidas was acclaimed in his lifetime to be a reincarnation of Valmiki, the composer of the original Ramayana in Sanskrit. A composer of several popular works, he is best known as the author of the epic Ramcharitmanas, a retelling of the Sanskrit Ramayana in the vernacular Awadhi. Tulsidas, also known as Goswami Tulsidas 1497/1532–1623) was a Hindu poet-saint, reformer and philosopher renowned for his devotion to the god Rama. Goswami Tulsidas - Ramcharitmanas, Ramayana