Ramayana was very close to the heart of Kasturba Gandhi, wife of Mahatma Gandhi. She had deep faith in the Ramayana and used to read it every day. Kasturba read Ramayana in the morning when Gandhi was on the morning walk.


Kasturba was a deeply religious woman. She fasted on Ekadashi, Purnima, Amavasya, Shivratri, and so on. During all her imprisonments, she had a copy of the Ramayana and the Bhagwat Purana with her. She used to read both of them even in the jail. In Pune’s Aga Khan Palace, Kasturba used to recite two stanzas of the Tulsi Ramayana regularly during the evening prayers.

Kasturba would sit down with the Ramayana and read these verses with the explanatory notes. The notes were in Hindi and her Hindi was not very good Gandhi would often explain to her the verses in Gujarati.

Kasturba had expressed her wish to watch a movie – `Bharat Milap’, which was based on Ramayana. But she was doubtful whether Gandhi would permit her to watch the movie.

In July 1914, Mahatma Gandhi and Kasturba traveled to England by ship. Mahatma Gandhi used to recite the Gita and Ramayana for Kasturba for an hour every day during the journey.