Birthday of Jalaram Bapa, Gujarati saint devoted to Lord Rama

Jalaram Jayanti celebrates the birth of Sant Shri Jalaram Bapa, the beloved saint of Gujarat, born on Kartika Shukla Saptami in 1799 (Vikram Samvat 1856) at Virpur near Rajkot. Devoted to Lord Rama from childhood, he was uninterested in the family trade and gave freely to sadhus and the poor. At eighteen he took initiation from the saint Bhojalram of Fatehpur, who gave him a mala and the name of Rama, and with his wife Virbai he started a sadavrat, a free kitchen where anyone — sadhu or traveller, rich or poor — was fed without question, which runs at Virpur to this day. Stories tell of his miracles and of his supreme test: God came as an old sadhu and asked for Virbai to serve him; Jalaram and Virbai agreed, and the sadhu vanished, leaving behind his danda (staff) and jholi (bag), which are still kept in the Virpur shrine. His motto was 'Jya Tukdo, Tya Hari Dhukdo' — where there is a morsel of food to share, God is near. Remarkably, the Virpur temple has refused all donations since 2000. His birthday is celebrated in Gujarat and by Gujaratis worldwide with bhajans, processions and mass feeding.

Devotees may fast until they have served food to others.