Tulsidas

Tulsidas was a 16th-century Hindu poet and devotional writer, best known for composing the Awadhi epic Ramcharitmanas, a retelling of the Ramayana centered on devotion to Rama.

Bhakti movement: A broad Hindu devotional movement emphasizing personal devotion to a deity. Its devotional ideals shaped Tulsidas’s poetry and portrayal of Rama.
Ramcharitmanas: A 16th-century Awadhi epic by Tulsidas retelling the story of Rama. This is Tulsidas’s best-known work and the central expression of his literary legacy.
Varanasi: A historic city on the Ganges in Uttar Pradesh, India, and a major Hindu pilgrimage center. Tulsidas is closely associated with the city, where tradition places much of his later life.
Surdas: A 16th-century poet-saint celebrated for devotional poetry about Krishna. He represents a contemporary vernacular bhakti tradition centered on another avatar of Vishnu.
Rama: A major Hindu deity, revered as an avatar of Vishnu and the hero of the Ramayana. Rama is the central divine figure in Tulsidas’s devotional writing.
Ramlila: A dramatic performance tradition depicting episodes from the life of Rama. Many Ramlila performances draw on the Ramcharitmanas as their narrative and dialogue source.
Chitrakoot: A pilgrimage region associated with Rama, spanning parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Tradition links Tulsidas’s devotional life and encounters with Rama to this sacred landscape.
Kabir: A 15th-century poet-saint whose verses criticize religious divisions and emphasize devotion to God. His vernacular devotional poetry offers a contrasting voice within North Indian bhakti.
Ramayana: An ancient Sanskrit epic recounting Rama’s life, exile, and battle with Ravana. Tulsidas retold this epic in a vernacular devotional form.
Sundarkand: A section of the Ramayana tradition recounting Hanuman’s journey to Lanka and meeting with Sita. Its Ramcharitmanas version is widely recited as a devotional text.

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