Ramcharitmanas (Devanāgarī: श्रीरामचरितमानस, IAST: ŚrīRāmacaritamānasa), is an epic poem in the Awadhi dialect of Hindi, composed by the 16th-century Indian bhakti poet Goswami Tulsidas (c.1532–1623). Ramcharitmanas literally means "Lake of the deeds of Rama". Ramcharitmanas is considered as one of the greatest works of Hindi literature. The work has variously been acclaimed as "the living sum of Indian culture", "the tallest tree in the magic garden of medieval Indian poetry", "the greatest book of all devotional literature" and "the best and most trustworthy guide to the popular living faith of the Indian people".