Author of the Ramcharitmanas, the Awadhi retelling of the Ramayana that remains the most widely read version of Rama's story across North India today.
१६वीं शताब्दी · 16th century CE
Born in the 16th century in the Awadh region, Tulsidas is held by tradition to have been guided toward composing the Ramcharitmanas by his own guru and, in some tellings, by Hanuman himself, appearing to him during his wanderings.
The Ramcharitmanas is recited nightly in countless households and performed as the Ram Lila across North India, especially around Dussehra, already covered in this site's festivals chapter — its verses arguably shaping popular devotion to Rama more than the Sanskrit Valmiki Ramayana itself in most Hindi-speaking regions today.