Modi to launch digital version of epic 'Ramcharitmanas' on Monday

A special "digital" version of epic 'Ramcharitmanas' prepared by All India Radio (AIR) will be released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.

A special "digital" version of epic 'Ramcharitmanas' prepared by All India Radio (AIR) will be released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.

Official sources said that the recordings of Goswami Tulsidas' work, sung by leading singers of Bhopal 'gharana', have been done by the AIR over several years and are regularly broadcast especially in the hindi heartland.

The 'Ramcharitmanas' was composed and recorded for the first time in 1980 at Akashvani Bhopal under the guidance of then station director Samar Bahadur Singh. The officials said that the Prime Minister would also felicitate some prominent artists during the event. Information and broadcasting minister Arun Jaitley, minister of state for I&B Rajyavardhan Rathore, Prasar Bharati chairperson A Suryaprakash, I&B secretary Bimal Julka and other senior officials are expected to be present at the event.

With the launch of the digital version of 'Ramcharitmanas' the broadcaster feels that it would reach not just domestic audiences but those abroad. It is part of AIR's attempts to go digital in a big way so that the public broadcaster can reach audiences globally, officials said.

Several of the AIR's channels are available on mobile apps and the broadcaster is also actively gaining more presence on the internet, they added.