Tulsi Ghat

Tulsi Ghat

Tulsi Ghat is one of the ghats in Varanasi. It is named for Tulsidas who lived there while he wrote the Ramcharitmanas. Earlier, Tulsi Ghat was known as Lolark Ghat. It was in the year 1941 that Tulsi Ghat was made pucca (cemented) by the famous industrialist, Baldeo Das Birla.^[1]

Cultural activities at Tulsi Ghat

Tulsi Ghat is associated with a number of important activities such as Lolark Sasthi at Lolark kunda (to be blessed with sons and their long life) and the sacred bath to get rid of leprosy and skin diseases. The festival of Lolark Sasthi falls on the 6th day of the bright half of Bhadrapad.^[2] During the Hindu lunar month of Kartika (Oct/Nov), the Krishna Lila, a play about the lila of Krishna, is staged here with great fanfare and devotion.

Activism at Tulsi Ghat

Sankat Mochan Foundation office at Tulsi Ghat

Tulsi Ghat is the office base of Sankat Mochan Foundation, a non governmental organization working to clean the river Ganga since 1982. Sankat Mochan Foundation is one of the biggest names associated with the Ganges cleaning project. Prof. Veer Bhadra Mishra, an environmentalist and social activist who is also the manager of Sankat Mochan Foundation, lives at Tulsi Ghat. Prof. Mishra was awarded the United Nations Environment Program's the Global 500 Roll of Honour in 1992.^[3]

Burglary

In December 2011 the copy of the Ramcharitmanas written by Tulsidas was stolen from the Hanuman temple on Tulsi Ghat. The Awadhi language manuscript had been in the temple since 1701 after having been discovered in 1623.^[4]

References

1. http://www.varanasicity.com/tulsi-ghat.html
2. http://www.up-tourism.com/kartik.htm
3. http://www.global500.org/Roll-of-Honour-/-Laureate-Database/Veer-Bhadra-Mishra.html
4. Srivastava, Piyush (24 December 2011). "Tulsidas's rare manuscript stolen from Varanasi temple". indiatoday.intoday.in. Retrieved 24 February 2012.