Anurag Thakur pays tribute to Tulsidas on Jayanti
Synopsis
BJP MP Anurag Thakur marked Tulsidas Jayanti on 19 August 2026 by quoting the iconic Chitrakoot doha and offering crores of salutations to the 16th-century Bhakti poet-saint, author of the Shri Ramcharitmanas.
Key Takeaways
BJP MP Anurag Thakur posted a tribute to Goswami Tulsidas on his Jayanti on 19 August 2026 .
He opened with the celebrated doha set on the ghats of Chitrakoot , describing Raghuveer applying tilak to Tulsidas.
Thakur described the Shri Ramcharitmanas as the 'supremely sacred scripture of Sanatan Dharma.' Tulsidas was a 16th-century Bhakti-tradition poet who composed the Ramcharitmanas in Awadhi , making the Ramayana accessible beyond Sanskrit.
Chitrakoot , straddling Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, is associated with both Rama's exile and Tulsidas's spiritual life.
A verse chiselled into the devotional memory of millions opened BJP MP Anurag Thakur's tribute on Wednesday, 19 August 2026 — the Jayanti of Goswami Tulsidas, the 16th-century poet-saint whose Awadhi masterpiece continues to shape Hindu devotional life across the subcontinent.
Thakur opened with the celebrated doha: 'Chitrakoot ke ghaat par, bhai santan ki bheer / Tulsidas chandan ghise, tilak det Raghuveer' — 'On the banks of Chitrakoot, saints gathered in a crowd; Tulsidas grinds sandalwood, and Raghuveer himself applies the tilak.' He then offered 'koti-koti naman' — crores of salutations — to the poet-saint, describing the Shri Ramcharitmanas as 'param pavan granth', the supremely sacred scripture of Sanatan Dharma.
Who was Goswami Tulsidas?
Tulsidas, revered as Sant Shiromani — the crown jewel of saints — was a Bhakti-tradition poet whose retelling of the Ramayana in Awadhi verse gave ordinary devotees direct access to the story of Lord Rama at a time when Sanskrit texts remained out of reach for most. The Ramcharitmanas he composed became the devotional backbone of Ram bhakti across North India and beyond, recited in homes, temples, and public gatherings for centuries.
Chitrakoot's place in the Tulsidas story
Chitrakoot, the pilgrimage town straddling Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, holds a twin sanctity: it is where Rama is believed to have spent a significant part of his exile, and it is intimately associated with Tulsidas's own spiritual life. The doha Thakur quoted is set precisely on the ghats of Chitrakoot — a detail that grounds the tribute in lived geography, not abstract reverence.
For BJP lawmakers, marking the Jayantis of medieval Bhakti poets — Tulsidas, Kabir, Mirabai, Surdas — has become a consistent strand of public communication, aligning cultural memory with the party's broader emphasis on Hindu heritage. Thakur, a former Union Minister who has held the Information and Broadcasting and Youth Affairs and Sports portfolios, closed his post with the salutation 'Jai Shri Ram.'
On Tulsidas Jayanti, the verse lives on — and so does the conversation about who gets to carry it forward.
Point of View
Weaving devotional memory into everyday political communication. The choice of the Chitrakoot doha — one of the most recognisable verses in Hindi devotional literature — signals cultural fluency aimed at a broad North Indian audience. For the BJP, these posts function simultaneously as personal piety and as soft reinforcement of the party's Hindu-heritage positioning. As the Ramcharitmanas continues to surface in debates around language, religion, and education policy, tributes like this carry a quiet but legible political subtext.
NationPress
19 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
When is Tulsidas Jayanti celebrated?
Tulsidas Jayanti is observed on the Saptami tithi of the Shukla Paksha in the month of Shravan according to the Hindu lunar calendar, which typically falls in July or August.
Who was Goswami Tulsidas?
Goswami Tulsidas was a 16th-century Bhakti-tradition poet-saint best known for composing the Shri Ramcharitmanas, a retelling of the Ramayana in the Awadhi language that became central to popular Hindu devotion.
What is the Chitrakoot doha quoted by Anurag Thakur?
The doha — 'Chitrakoot ke ghaat par, bhai santan ki bheer / Tulsidas chandan ghise, tilak det Raghuveer' — describes a scene where Tulsidas grinds sandalwood on the banks of Chitrakoot and Lord Rama himself applies the tilak, symbolising divine grace.
What is the Shri Ramcharitmanas?
The Shri Ramcharitmanas is a 16th-century Awadhi verse retelling of the Ramayana composed by Tulsidas. It remains one of the most widely read and recited devotional texts in North India.
Why is Chitrakoot significant in the Tulsidas tradition?
Chitrakoot, a pilgrimage town on the Uttar Pradesh-Madhya Pradesh border, is believed to be where Rama spent part of his exile and is closely associated with Tulsidas's spiritual journey, making it a sacred site in the Ram bhakti tradition.
