Centuries after he set the story of Lord Rama into Awadhi verse, Goswami Tulsidas continues to draw reverence from across India's public life. On Wednesday, 19 August 2026, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel offered his homage to the saint-poet on Tulsidas Jayanti, saluting the timeless legacy of the Shri Ramcharitmanas and the Hanuman Chalisa.

In his post, CM Patel wrote — translated from Gujarati — 'Crores of salutations on the Jayanti of the great saint of Bharatbhoomi, Goswami Tulsidas ji, composer of the immortal epic Shri Ramcharitmanas. Through incomparable and devotion-filled works such as the Shri Ramcharitmanas and the Hanuman Chalisa, he carried the ideal life story of Lord Shri Ram, the values of propriety and righteous conduct, to every home. His simple, devotional and spiritual compositions will forever keep Indian culture and public consciousness illuminated.'

The saint who brought Ram's story into every home

Goswami Tulsidas, the 16th-century saint-poet, composed the Shri Ramcharitmanas in Awadhi — a vernacular language of the Gangetic plains — at a time when the Ramayana tradition was largely preserved in Sanskrit, accessible only to a learned few. By rendering the epic in the language of ordinary people, Tulsidas democratised devotion. The text spread across regions and communities, embedding the ideals of Ram Rajya — righteous governance, filial duty, and moral courage — into everyday vocabulary and domestic ritual.

The Hanuman Chalisa, his forty-verse hymn to Lord Hanuman, remains among the most widely recited devotional compositions in India today, memorised by millions across generations and geographies. Together, these works cemented Tulsidas's place not merely as a poet but as an architect of popular Hindu religious imagination.

Bhakti poets and the grammar of Indian public tribute

Tributes on the jayantis of medieval bhakti saints have become a settled feature of Indian political communication. From Kabir to Mirabai, Tukaram to Tulsidas, anniversaries of saint-poets offer leaders a moment to invoke a shared cultural inheritance that cuts across caste and regional lines. CM Patel's tribute follows this well-worn pattern — a gesture that is simultaneously devotional and civic, reminding constituents of the deep roots of the literary and spiritual tradition that shapes Gujarat's, and India's, cultural self-understanding.

No policy announcement or legislative measure accompanies the tribute. The message stands as a mark of cultural continuity — proof that a 16th-century poet still commands a place in the first paragraph of a 21st-century chief minister's morning.