History

Tulsidas was born at the 7th day in the month of Shraavana (July or August), in the bright half of the lunar. His birth place is identified at the Rajapur (also known as the Chitrakuta) at the banks of the Yamuna river in UP. The name of his parents is Hulsi and Atmaram Dubey. According to the biographers, various opinions are there regarding the birth year of Tulsidas. Many of them say according to the Vikrami Samvat that he took birth in 1554 and other say it was 1532. He lived his life around 126 years. According to the legend, Tulsidas took the 12 months to come out to the world, till then he stayed in the womb of his mother. He had all the 32 teeth from his birth and looks like a five year old boy. After his birth, he told Rama word instead of crying. That?s why he named as Rambola, he himself had stated in Vinayapatrika.

At the fourth night after his birth his father had passed away because of the danger to life. Tulsidas had stated in his works Kavitavali and Vinayapatrika about his parents abandonment after his birth. Chuniya (the female maid of his mother Hulsi) took Tulsidas to her town, Haripur and took care of him. She died after caring him for just five and a half years. After that event, Rambola lived as a poor orphan and walked door to door begging for alms. It is assumed that the Goddess Parvati took up the form of a Brahmin for taking care of the Rambola. He himself had given some of the facts and events of his life in his various works. Two ancient sources of his life are the Bhaktamal and Bhaktirasbodhini composed by the Nabhadas and Priyadas respectively. Nabhadas had written in his writing about Tulsidas and described him as an incarnation of the Valmiki. Priyadas composed his writing 100 years after the death of Tulsidas and described the seven miracles and spiritual experiences of the Tulsidas. Two other biographies of Tulsidas are Mula Gosain Charit and Gosain Charit composed by Veni Madhav Das in 1630 and Dasanidas (or Bhavanidas) around 1770 respectively.