Rajapur Tulsidas

History

District tourism identifies Rajapur with Tulsidas’s birth. Devotees visit the associated shrines and memorials as an extension of the Chitrakoot Rama circuit.

The site connects the bhakti literature of North India with the landscape of Rama’s exile.

Stories

Where was Tulsidas born?

The poet-saint Tulsidas, author of the Ramcharitmanas, left little firm biographical record, and his birthplace is debated. Three places are named in different accounts, and most scholars identify Soron in Kasganj. In 2012 the Uttar Pradesh government officially declared Chitrakoot, where Rajapur lies, as his birthplace, and local tradition keeps that memory alive.

The poet who gave Rama a village tongue

Tulsidas wrote in Awadhi, the speech of ordinary people, rather than only in Sanskrit, and his Ramcharitmanas retold the story of Rama for a wide audience. He is also credited with popularising Ramlila folk theatre and with founding the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple in Varanasi. Pilgrims who come to Rajapur often link the visit with Chitrakoot, the forest hills tied to Rama's exile.

Good to know

Birthplace of Goswami Tulsidas (district tourism)

About 38 km from Chitrakoot Dham railway station

Day trip from Chitrakoot or along the Prayagraj–Chitrakoot road belt

Getting there

Road from Chitrakoot Dham Karvi (~38 km). Airports: Prayagraj or Khajuraho.