#RaniDurgavati

Rani Durgāvatī · 1524–1564

In the books · 1 chapter

Who this is

Poetry — Awadhi and Braj devotional verse; the Rāmcaritmānas, the Hanumān Chālīsā, and ten other works the tradition accepts as his.

“An abandoned child who begged for scraps grew up to write the book more Indians know by heart than any other — and he did it by refusing the prestige language of his profession and writing in the tongue his neighbours actually spoke.”

— The Great Indians, Ch. 140

The big idea, in the book's words:

“He took the Rāmāyaṇa out of Sanskrit and gave it to the street — in a metre so singable it memorizes itself — and north India has been reciting, singing and acting his version every year since.”

— The Great Indians, Ch. 140