"Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram" (also called Ram Dhun) is a

bhajan Bhajan refers to any devotional song with a religious theme or spiritual ideas, specifically among Indian religions, in any language. The term bhajanam ( Sanskrit: भजनम्) means ''reverence'' and originates from the root word ''bhaj'' ...

(devotional song) widely popularised by

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

and set to tune by

Vishnu Digambar Paluskar Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar (18 August 1872 – 21 August 1931) was a Hindustani musician. He sang the original version of the bhajan Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram, and founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya on 5 May 1901. He is also credited wit ...

Raga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradition, and as ...

''Mishra

Gara ''Gara'' (Basque: ''We Are'') is a bilingual (Basque/Spanish) newspaper published in the city of Donostia-San Sebastián in the Basque Autonomous Community. The newspaper's target market comprises the area of the Basque Country, but its cir ...

''.

History

The precise origins of the song are not entirely clear. It is believed to have been either written by

Tulsidas Tulsidas (; born Rambola Dubey; also known as Goswami Tulsidas; c.1511pp. 23–34.–1623) was a Ramanandi Vaishnava Hindu saint and poet, renowned for his devotion to the deity Rama. He wrote several popular works in Sanskrit and Awadhi, b ...

(or based on his work

Ramcharitmanas ''Ramcharitmanas'' ( deva, श्रीरामचरितमानस, Rāmacaritamānasa), is an epic poem in the Awadhi language, based on the '' Ramayana'', and composed by the 16th-century Indian bhakti poet Tulsidas (c. 1532–1623). Thi ...

) or based on a 17th-century sung-prayer by the Marathi saint-poet Ramdas.

Anthony Parel Anthony Parel (born 1926) is a Canadian historian, author and academic. He has authored and edited a number of books, on subjects including Thomas Aquinas, Niccolò Machiavelli, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and South Asian history. More broadly, he ...

writes in ''Gandhi's Philosophy and the Quest for Harmony'', There have been many versions of the Ramdhun, and the version that Mahatma Gandhi used had an "ecumenical flavour" to it. Gandhi modified the original bhajan, adding that the ''Ishwar'' of the Hindus and the ''Allah'' of the Muslims were one and the same, to make the song more secular-looking and to spread the message of reconciliation between Hindus and Muslims. The song was extensively used to project a secular and composite vision of Indian society — it was sung during the 1930 Salt March.

Lyrics

In popular culture

* Elements of the chant were included in the song "Utho Utho he Bharat" in the movie ''

Bharat Milap ''Bharat Milap'' is a Bollywood film. It was released in 1942. based on Ramayana. Remakes It was remade into two movies in the same year 1965, by Babubhai Mistry starring Sohrab Modi, Sulochana, Ashish Kumar. And as ''Shree Ram Bharat Milan' ...

'' (1942), in songs of ''

Shri Ram Bhakta Hanuman ''Shri Ram Bhakta Hanuman'' (Hanuman, The Worshipper of Lord Rama) is a 1948 Hindi religious film produced and directed by Homi Wadia for Basant Pictures. The story was adapted from Valmiki's Ramayana by Shivram Vashikar and the dialogues we ...

'' (1948), the song "De Dii Hamen Aazaadii" in the movie ''

Jagriti ''Jagriti'' () is a 1954 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Satyen Bose. It was based on the 1949 Bengali film ''Paribartan'' that Bose had also directed. The film stars Rajkumar Gupta, Abhi Bhattacharya, and Ratan Kumar in the lead roles. T ...

'' (1954), ''

Purab Aur Paschim ''Purab Aur Pachhim'' () is a 1970 Indian Hindi-language drama film. The movie was produced and directed by Manoj Kumar, and it stars Manoj Kumar, Saira Banu, Ashok Kumar, Pran and Prem Chopra in the lead roles. The music is by Kalyanji Anandji. ...

'' (1970) and in the film ''

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai ''Kuch Kuch Hota Hai'' () also known as ''KKHH'' or ''K2H2'', is a 1998 Indian Hindi-language musical romance film written and directed by Karan Johar and produced under Dharma Productions. It stars the popular on-screen pair of Shah Rukh Kha ...

'' (1998), in the

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

film ''

Gandhinagara ''Gandhinagara'' is a 1968 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by K. S. L. Swamy and produced by C Venku Reddy. The film stars Rajkumar, Kalpana, K. S. Ashwath, Balakrishna and Narasimharaju. The film had musical score by Chellapilla Sat ...

'' (1968), in the British-Indian movie ''

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

'' (1982), in the film ''

Gandhi, My Father ''Gandhi, My Father'' is a 2007 Indian biographical drama film by Feroz Abbas Khan. It was produced by Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor, and released on 3 August 2007. The film stars Darshan Jariwala, Akshaye Khanna, and Bhumika Chawla. The ...

'' (2007), in ''Satyagraha'' (2013), and also in ''

Krrish 3 ''Krrish 3'' is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language superhero film written, produced and directed by Rakesh Roshan, who wrote the screenplay with Honey Irani and Robin Bhatt. It is the third film in the ''Krrish'' series, following '' Koi... Mil G ...

'' (2013). * The song is an important motif in the 2006

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" ...

film, ''

Lage Raho Munna Bhai ''Lage Raho Munna Bhai'' (; ) is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language satirical comedy drama film written, edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, who co-wrote the screenplay with Abhijat Joshi and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. It is the follow-up ...

'', and is featured in the movie. * ''

Raghupathi Raghavan Rajaram ''Raghupathi Raghavan Rajaram'' is a 1977 Indian Tamil-language film directed by Durai, starring Vijayakumar, Rajinikanth and Sumithra. The film was released on 12 August 1977, and did not do well at the box office. It is considered a lost fil ...

'' was the title of a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

movie produced in 1977. *

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notabl ...

included "Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram" on his album "Strangers and Cousins" (1964) and performed it in Episode 10 of his television series

Rainbow Quest ''Rainbow Quest'' (1965–66) was a U.S. television series devoted to folk music and hosted by Pete Seeger. It was videotaped in black-and-white and featured musicians playing in traditional American music genres such as traditional folk music, ...

. * Sheila Chandra recorded a version titled ''Bhajan'' on her 1992 album ''Weaving My Ancestors' Voices''. * Many singers such as

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her con ...

Jagjit Singh Jagjit Singh (born Jagmohan Singh Dhiman; 8 February 1941 – 10 October 2011) was an Indian composer, singer and musician. He composed and sang in numerous languages and is credited for the revival and popularity of ghazal, an Indian cl ...

, K.S.Chithra have recorded the song. * The game Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories featured

Ananda Shankar Ananda Shankar (11 December 1942 – 26 March 1999) was an Indian musician, singer, and composer best known for fusing Western and Eastern musical styles. He was married to dancer and choreographer Tanusree Shankar. Life Born in Almora in ...

's version on one of the in-game radio stations, "Radio del Mundo".

References

Bibliography

* {{Mohandas K. Gandhi Hindu music Vaishnavism Cultural depictions of Mahatma Gandhi Bhakti movement Bhajan Hindu devotional songs

History

Lyrics

In popular culture

See also

References

Bibliography