Morari Bapu Brings Ramcharitmanas Recital To Harvard

Photo: Chitrakutdham Talgajarda Morari Bapu

India-West News Desk

CAMBRIDGE, MA- Spiritual leader Morari Bapu has on nine-day recital of the Ramcharitmanas at Harvard University here, with the program also featuring scholarly discussions and an observance of Tulsi Jayanti.

Titled ‘Manas Guru Prasad’, the recital began at Sanders Theatre on August 15 and will continue through August 23. A three-day scholarly discussion was held from August 16 to 18, according to a press release.

The program 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, spoke about the journey of Ram, Sita and Lakshmana during their 14-year exile from Ayodhya.

She described them as “primordial pilgrims”, saying their journey through Prayag, Chitrakoot, Panchavati and Kishkindha to Rameshwaram transformed these places into sacred sites, with pilgrims later following their footsteps.

Eck also said the journey became part of the Ramlila tradition beyond India, including in 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” highlighted at the gathering.

The event also featured sadhus and scholars from Chitrakoot, Ayodhya and Varanasi.

Paavan Popat OBE, a member of the organizing team, said Bapu had taken Ram Katha to Kailash Manasarovar, the Vatican, the United Nations and Cambridge. He said the Harvard programme brought together “the world’s oldest recital traditions and one of its greatest centers of learning”.

Bapu said he had started the Tulsi Jayanti programme in 2010 to honor 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 said the gathering would focus on the “Tribhuvana Sutras” of Satya, Prem and Karuna.