Morari Bapu begins Ramcharitmanas recital at Harvard during Tulsi Jayanti

Newyork,UPDATED: Aug 20, 2026 06:50 IST

Indian spiritual leader Morari Bapu has begun a nine-day recital of the Ramcharitmanas at Harvard University in Cambridge, in an event titled 'Manas Guru Prasad'. The recital started at Sanders Theatre on August 15 and will continue till August 23.

The programme also included a three-day scholarly discussion from August 16 to 18, according to a press release issued in New York on Wednesday. The event also marked Tulsi Jayanti on August 19, the birth anniversary of poet-saint Tulsidas.

Prof Diana Eck, Faculty Director at Harvard's Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute, said Ram, Sita and Lakshmana could be seen as "primordial pilgrims" whose 14-year exile from Ayodhya through Prayag, Chitrakoot, Panchavati and Kishkindha to Rameshwaram unfolded across India.

"As they travelled, these places were transformed into sacred sites, and pilgrims have followed their footsteps ever since," Eck said. She added that the journey also became the landscape of Ramlila, extending beyond India to Thailand, Indonesia and Cambodia.

Dolar Popat, a member of the UK House of Lords, said Harvard's motto, 'Veritas', resonated with the values of "Satya, Prem and Karuna", making the gathering meaningful.

The press release said Bapu had started the Tulsi Jayanti programme in 2010 to honour those dedicated to preserving, interpreting and carrying forward the tradition of Ram Katha and the Ramcharitmanas.

"This Katha is being held in Savan maas, in the context of Tulsi Jayanti. What was lit today by the sadhus was not gyan deep; it was prem jyoti," Bapu said. He added that the gathering would focus on the "Tribhuvana Sutras" of Satya, Prem and Karuna.

Paavan Popat OBE, a member of the organising team, said the event brought together "the world's oldest recital traditions and one of its greatest centres of learning". He said Bapu had taken the Ram Katha to Kailash Manasarovar, the Vatican, the United Nations and Cambridge, and that the presence of sadhus and scholars from Chitrakoot, Ayodhya and Varanasi at Harvard was particularly significant.

According to the statement, Bapu has delivered more than 980 Kathas at over 900 locations worldwide, including the Vatican, the UN headquarters in New York and the University of Cambridge in 2023. The Harvard recital and the discussions around it brought together spiritual tradition, scholarship and the observance of Tulsi Jayanti over nine days.

With PTI Inputs

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