Ramcharitmanas
Tulsidas's "Lake of the Deeds of Rama", the Awadhi retelling of the Ramayana that became the most recited book of North India.
Core Characteristics
- Composed around 1574 in Ayodhya, in Awadhi rather than Sanskrit, so ordinary people could hear it.
- Structured as seven books, opening with Shiva's own retelling to Parvati.
- Its verses are still sung publicly across the Hindi-speaking world, and its Rama is the Rama of popular devotion.
Related Concepts & Sources
Indian, Ramayana, Divine Intervention