Tulsidas

Goswami Tulsidas
Statue of Goswami Tulsidas at Kanch Mandir, Tulsi Peeth, Chitrakuta, India
Born	Rambola 1568 or 1511 Gonda, Uttar Pradesh, India
Died	1615 or 1623 Assi Ghat, Varanasi (present-day Uttar Pradesh, India)
Titles/honours	Gosvāmī, Abhinavavālmīki, Bhaktaśiromaṇi, etc
Guru	Naraharidāsa
Philosophy	Vaishnavism
Literary works	Ramcharitmanas, Vinaya Patrika, "geetawali",Dohavali, sahitya ratna, Hanuman Chalisa, Vairagya Sandipani, Janaki Mangal, Parvati Mangal, and others
Quotation	I bow down to the whole world by folding both hands, considering all of it to be it to be a manifestation of Sita and Rama. [ Note - सीयराममय means to be manifest of Sita and Rama. It doesn not mean to be born of Sita and Rama.]

Tulsidas (Hindi: तुलसीदास; Hindi pronunciation: [t̪ʊls̪iːd̪aːs̪], also known as Goswami Tulsidas (गोस्वामी तुलसीदास); 1497/1532–1623) was a Hindu poet-saint, reformer and philosopher from Ramanandi Sampradaya in the lineage of Jagadguru Ramanandacharya renowned for his devotion to the Lord Shri Rama. A writer of several popular works in Sanksrit and Awadhi, he is best known as the author of the epic Ramcharitmanas, a retelling of the Sanskrit Ramayana based on Rama's life in the vernacular Awadhi.

Tulsidas was acclaimed in his lifetime to be a reincarnation of Valmiki, the composer of the original Ramayana in Sanskrit. He is also considered to be the composer of the Hanuman Chalisa, a popular devotional hymn dedicated to Hanuman, the divine devotee of Rama.

Tulsidas spent most of his life in the city of Varanasi. The Tulsi Ghat on the Ganges River in Varanasi is named after him. He founded the Sankatmochan Temple dedicated to Hanuman in Varanasi, believed to stand at the place where he had the sight of Hanuman. Tulsidas started the Ramlila plays, a folk-theatre adaption of the Ramayana.

He has been acclaimed as one of the greatest poets in Hindi, Indian, and world literature. The impact of Tulsidas and his works on the art, culture and society in India is widespread and is seen to date in vernacular language, Ramlila plays, Hindustani classical music, popular music, and television series.