Tulsidas, amongst the most important of the saint-poets of the medieval bhakti movement in northern India, is also Hindi’s most renowned poet. In the sixteenth century, he wrote his Ramcharitmanas , a retelling of the story of Ram, the legendary prince of Avadh. Composed in Avadhi, the spoken language of the people, it enjoyed instant popular appeal. It soon became-and remains-the dominant and accepted version of Ram’s story in the Hindi-speaking north. Rohini Chowdhury’s elegant translation brings Tulsidas’s magnum opus vividly to life.The translation also includes a comprehensive introduction to the poet and his work.