Tulsi Ghat is one of the

ghats in Varanasi Ghats in Varanasi are riverfront steps leading to the banks of the Ganges river. The city has 88 ghats. Most of the ghats are bathing and puja ceremonial ghats, while two ghats, Manikarnika and Harishchandra, are used exclusively as crema ...

. It is named after poet

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, but ...

who lived there while he wrote the

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 ...

and

Hanuman Chalisa The ''Hanuman Chalisa'' (; ''Chaupai (poetry), Forty chaupais on Hanuman'') is a Hinduism, Hindu devotional hymn (''stotra'') in praise of Hanuman.Rambhadradas 1984pp. 1–8./ref> It was authored by Tulsidas in the Awadhi language, and is his bes ...

. Earlier, Tulsi Ghat was known as Lolark Ghat. It was in the year 1941 that Tulsi Ghat was made pucca (cemented) by industrialist,

Baldeo Das Birla Baldeo Das Birla was an Indian entrepreneur. He contributed to the establishment of the Medical College Calcutta, and also built the Laxminarayan Temple, Delhi, also known as ''Birla Mandir'', which was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi in 1939. B ...

. Tulsi Ghat is very accessible by boat and would suggest hiring a private boat tour on the banks of river ganga in varanasi costs approx Rs 1500 per boat trip for the entire family where you can stop and visit at all important ghats , watch the ganga sunrise instead of the group boat tours which speed through all the ghats for the morning ganga river tours.

Cultural activities at Tulsi Ghat

Krishna Standing on Kadamba tree at Nag Nathaiya festival

Tulsi Ghat is associated with a number of rituals such as Lolark Sasthi at Lolark kunda (performed for the birth and welfare of sons) and a sacred bath to rid oneself of leprosy and skin diseases. The festival of Lolark Sasthi falls on the 6th day of the bright half of Bhadrapad. During the Hindu lunar month of Kartika (Oct/Nov), the ''Krishna Lila'', a play about the

lila Lila or LILA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lila'' (album), debut album by American country music singer Lila McCann * ''Lila'' (movie), a 1968 sexploitation film * The Meaning of Lila, a comic strip written by John Forgetta and L. A. ...

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

(

Nag Nathaiya Nag Nathaiya or Nag Nathaiya Leela is a Hindu festival held in Varanasi, India, commemorating the conquest of the god Krishna over the ''naga'' (serepnt) Kaliya. The tale is reenacted annually the Tulsi Ghat on the fourth tithi of Kartik's ...

), is staged here.

Burglary

In December 2011 the copy of the Ramcharitmanas written by Tulsidas was stolen from the

Hanuman Hanuman (; sa, हनुमान, ), also called Anjaneya (), is a Hindu god and a divine '' vanara'' companion of the god Rama. Hanuman is one of the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is an ardent devotee of Rama and on ...

temple on Tulsi Ghat. The

Awadhi Awadhi (; ), also known as Audhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern India and Nepal. It is primarily spoken in the Awadh region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. The name ''Awadh'' is connected to Ayodhya, the ancient city ...

language manuscript had been in the temple since 1701 after having been discovered in 1623.

References

{{Varanasi Ghats in Varanasi