Also known as Tulsikrit Ramayana, the Hindi (Awadhi) epic poem, Ramchartimanas is a genius narrative of Hindu sage, Bhakti poet, and a Rama devotee, Tulsidas, who is believed to be an incarnation of Valmiki himself (writer of the Sanskrit epic, Ramayana). The word ‘Ramchartimanas’ can be translated as ‘a divine lake of the deeds of Rama’. This poem is considered a masterpiece of medieval Hindu literature and is known for its powerful influence on modern-day Hinduism, especially in the northern regions of India.
It was composed in the early 1630s by drawing from a number of sources including Valmiki’s Ramayana, the Prasannaraghava, the Adhyatma Ramayana, and the Hanuman Nataka. In totality, Ramcharitmanas has approx 12,800 lines in the form of 1073 Chaupais (quatrain verses) which are separated from each other by Dohas (rhyming couplets) or Sorthas. All the work is categorized into seven chapters or the seven Kands – Bal Kand (childhood episode), Ayodhya Kand (Ayodhya episode), Aranya Kand (forest episode), Kiskindha Kand (Kishkindha episode), Sundar Kand (pleasant episode), Lanka Kand (Lanka episode), and Uttar Kand (later episode).
In comparison to the original Ramayana of Valmiki, Ramcharitmanas is around one-third in size and is an attempt by Tulsidas to make the story of Rama available to the common man so that he could learn from the example of Rama on how to live a life of righteousness, purity, and complete devotion towards everyone’s wellbeing.