Cambridge, Massachusetts: Morari Bapu’s nine-day Ram Katha, Manas Guru Prasad, concluded at Harvard University’s Sanders Theatre on Sunday, bringing India’s spiritual and literary traditions into dialogue with the global academic community.
At the concluding ceremony, Bapu urged Harvard to preserve copies of the four Vedas, the Ramcharitmanas and the Valmiki Ramayana so that future generations of students and researchers can access and study these foundational texts of Indian knowledge.
The event sought to connect India’s classical knowledge traditions with contemporary academic discourse while introducing international audiences to the spiritual and literary legacy of the Ramcharitmanas.
As part of the nine-day programme, the organisers celebrated Goswami Tulsidas’ birth anniversary on August 19 with the Tulsi Janmotsav and Global Awards ceremony. For the first time in the 16-year history of the Ram Katha tradition, the Tulsi, Vyas, Valmiki and Ratnavali Awards were presented outside India.
The ceremony recognised nine scholars and cultural contributors with eight awards. The Valmiki Award went to Prof. Sally J. Sutherland Goldman, Prof. Robert P. Goldman and Prof. Madoka Fukuoka. Prof. John Stratton Hawley, Dr Ashwin Bhai Kantilal Rajgor and Devi Chitralekha received the Vyas Award.
Prof. Rupert Snell and community leader Piyush Bhai Mehta received the Tulsi Award, while Harvard’s Prof. Diana L. Eck received the Ratnavali Award for her contribution to comparative religion.
Indian scholars, storytellers, musicians and artists also joined members of Harvard’s academic community during the Ram Katha. A three-day scholarly dialogue from August 16 to 18 brought together scholars and practitioners from Japan, the Netherlands, the UK and the US to discuss India’s literary, philosophical and cultural traditions.
Bapu said, “I have not come here to study, nor have I come to teach; I have come to distribute prasad.”
The nine-day Manas Guru Prasad programme brought together spirituality, scholarship, music and cultural exchange, creating a platform for global audiences to engage with India’s classical traditions and the values of truth, love and compassion.
