What is Valmiki known for?

Valmiki is known for composing the *Ramayana*, an ancient Hindu epic that narrates the life of Lord Rama. This work is considered one of the most important texts in Indian literature and culture.

Was Valmiki a real person?

While historical evidence is limited, Valmiki is traditionally regarded as a historical figure and the author of the *Ramayana*. He is also venerated as a revered sage in Hindu tradition.

What is the Ramayana?

The *Ramayana* is an ancient Indian epic composed by Valmiki. It tells the story of Prince Rama's journey, including his exile, the abduction of his wife Sita by the demon king Ravana, and his eventual victory over Ravana.

What is the significance of Valmiki in Indian literature?

Valmiki is considered the *adi kavi* (first poet) of Sanskrit literature. His composition of the *Ramayana* established a literary and spiritual framework that has influenced countless generations of poets, scholars, and devotees.

Are there any other works attributed to Valmiki?

While the *Ramayana* is his primary and most celebrated work, some traditions and texts suggest that Valmiki may have composed other hymns or philosophical works, though these are less documented.

Valmiki

Celebrated as the harbinger-poet in Sanskrit literature and the author of the epic Ramayana

Person human Q715607

Facts

14 properties

Instance of: human
Sex or gender: male^[5]
Occupation: poet, writer
Religion or worldview: Hinduism^[4]
Notable work: Ramayana^[3]
Languages spoken, written or signed: Sanskrit^[10]
Copyright status as a creator: copyrights on works have expired^[13]
Described by source: Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, Small Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary^[8]^[9]
Floruit: 200 BC^[7]
Main subject: Valmiki^[6]
On focus list of Wikimedia project: Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4^[11]
P14585: 42241
P14750: 9D3B-41C1-11D1-6145-5168
Writing language: Sanskrit^[12]

🏷️ Also known as

en Balmiki en Valmiki en Sage, Epic Poet ar فالميكي cs Válmíki cs Valmiki de Walmiki de Valmiki el Βαλμίκι es Balmiki es Valmīki es Válmiki es Vālmiki es Vālmīki fa والمیکی fr Maharishi Valmiki fr Vâlmikî fr Vâlmîki he ואלמיקי hi ऋषि, महाकवि

🔖 Identifiers · 78

ISNI: 0000000393699422
VIAF cluster ID: 288016626
Library of Congress authority ID: n80036601
GND ID: 118840274
BBC Things ID: 6c11fa8c-9a4f-4c5b-b3f9-50d8d54ba2e8
BIBSYS ID: 90273690
Babelio author ID: 14202
Bibliothèque de la Pléiade ID: Valmiki
Bibliothèque nationale de France ID: 11927528q
BookBrainz author ID: 08f3eb2b-6c4a-49ef-b30b-303bb94f18ac
British Museum person or institution ID: 15074
CERL Thesaurus ID: cnp00539978

Show all 78 identifiers +66

CONOR.SI ID: 250172771
Canadiana Authorities ID (former scheme): 1001E1507
Canadiana Name Authority ID: ncf10394984
CiNii Research ID: 1140845216506588288
DDB person (GND) ID: 118840274
Databazeknih.cz author ID: 8941
Digital Scriptorium Catalog item ID: Yuxiong
EGAXA ID: vtls001585923
Encyclopædia Britannica Online ID: biography/Valmiki
Encyclopædia Universalis ID: valmiki
FAST ID: 52334
Freebase ID: /m/01j009
Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana ID: valmiki
Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana ID (former scheme): 0069440
Great Russian Encyclopedia Online ID (2017): 1897812
Hill Museum & Manuscript Library ID: person/450874661569
IMDb ID: nm1033349
ISFDB author ID: 30910
IdRef ID: 027175235
IntraText author ID: 387
IxTheo authority ID: 079615287
Kallías ID: PE00156382
Kinobox person ID: 468966
Les Archives du spectacle person ID: 121476
Libraries Australia ID: 35575469
LibriVox author ID: 1812
Libris-URI: zw9dk9xh3vzdxr6
Medvik ID: jn20001227667
NACSIS-CAT author ID: DA00341351
NDL Authority ID: 00459480
NE.se ID: valmiki
NL CR AUT ID: jn20001227667
NLA Trove people ID: 1001181
National Library of Brazil ID: 000376647
National Library of Greece ID: 137572
National Library of Ireland ID: vtls000057625
National Library of Israel ID (old): 000136675
National Library of Israel J9U ID: 987007269330905171
National Library of Korea ID: KAC201808155
National Library of Lithuania ID: LNB:BBQG;=vN
National Library of Poland MMS ID: 9810591452605606
National Library of Portugal ID: 170805
National Library of Russia ID: 7710350
National Library of Spain SpMaBN ID (BNE v1.0): XX1146448
Nationale Thesaurus voor Auteursnamen ID: 070765340
Obálky knih ID: jn20001227667
Online Books Page author ID: Valmiki
Open Library ID: OL1774A
OpenMLOL author ID: 22653
PUG authority ID: 124966
Parsifal cluster ID: 289805, 223450
Penguin India author ID: valmiki
Plex person key: 5dcd3ac1d2ac1c001d4b02cf
Project Gutenberg author ID: 7984
Quora topic ID: Valmiki-poet
RERO ID (legacy): A003951944
RILM ID: 141289
SELIBR ID: 346005
SHARE Catalogue author ID: 636731
TMDB person ID: 1323093
Unz Review author ID: Valmiki
Vatican Library ID (former scheme): ADV11312809
WBPLN author ID: BALMIKI, Balmiki
Wellcome Collection concept ID: bn7pfm9z
Yale LUX ID: person/6e621656-7996-4445-847e-0e13ae79b286
ČSFD person ID: 138300

Report an error or request removal Lineage (PROV-JSON)

🔗 Connections

Works by author 7

Ramayana, Balakanda, Aranyakanda, Ayodhya Kanda, Kishkindhakanda, Lankakanda, Adbhuta Ramayana

← After a work by 3

Sita Sings the Blues, Lanka Dahan, Ram Rajya

Named after 2

Maharishi Valmiki International Airport Ayodhya Dham, Valmiki

Occupation 2

writer, poet

Described by source 1

Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary

Digital Scriptorium Catalog item ID 1

Yuxiong

Instance of 1

human

Languages spoken, written or signed 1

Sanskrit

Notable work 1

Ramayana

On focus list of Wikimedia project 1

Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4

Religion or worldview 1

Hinduism

Sex or gender 1

male

Writing language 1

Sanskrit

← Creator 1

Jabali

← FactGrid item ID 1

Kosa Rishnivka

← Main subject 1

Valmikipratibha

Press Enter · cited answer in seconds

Summary

Valmiki has worked as a poet^[1] and writer^[2].

Body

Works and Contributions

Things named for Valmiki include Maharishi Valmiki International Airport Ayodhya Dham^[14] and he^[15].

Why It Matters

Works attributed to him include Ramayana^[16], a national epic^[17]; Adbhuta Ramayana^[18], a literary work^[19]; Balakanda^[20], a literary work^[21]; Aranyakanda^[22], a literary work^[23]; Lankakanda^[24], a literary work^[25]; and Kishkindhakanda^[26], a literary work^[27]. Entities named for him include Maharishi Valmiki International Airport Ayodhya Dham^[14] and he^[15].

FAQs

What did Valmiki do for work?

Valmiki worked as a poet^[1] and writer^[2].

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

[5] ↑ Valmiki — sex or gender (P21): male. Czech National Authority Database. Retrieved 2025-08-29. wikidata.org.
[1] ↑ Valmiki — occupation (P106): poet. wikidata.org.
[2] ↑ Valmiki — occupation (P106): writer. wikidata.org.
[4] ↑ Valmiki — religion or worldview (P140): Hinduism. wikidata.org.
[3] ↑ Valmiki — notable work (P800): Ramayana. wikidata.org.
[6] ↑ Valmiki — main subject (P921): Valmiki. wikidata.org.
[7] ↑ Valmiki — floruit (P1317): 200 BC. wikidata.org.
[8] ↑ Valmiki — described by source (P1343): Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary. wikidata.org.
[9] ↑ Valmiki — described by source (P1343): Small Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary. wikidata.org.
[10] ↑ Valmiki — languages spoken, written or signed (P1412): Sanskrit. Czech National Authority Database. Retrieved 2022-03-01. wikidata.org.
[11] ↑ Valmiki — on focus list of Wikimedia project (P5008): Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4. wikidata.org.
[12] ↑ Valmiki — writing language (P6886): Sanskrit. wikidata.org.
[13] ↑ Valmiki — copyright status as a creator (P7763): copyrights on works have expired. wikidata.org.

Inverse relationships (entities pointing at this one)

Inline context (facts about related entities)

[17] ↑ Ramayana — P31: national epic. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[19] ↑ Adbhuta Ramayana — P31: literary work. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[21] ↑ Balakanda — P31: literary work. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[23] ↑ Aranyakanda — P31: literary work. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[25] ↑ Lankakanda — P31: literary work. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
[27] ↑ Kishkindhakanda — P31: literary work. Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site

📑 Cite this page

Use these citations when quoting this entity in research, articles, AI prompts, or wherever provenance matters. We aggregate Wikidata + Wikipedia + authoritative open-data sources; the stitched, scored, cross-referenced view is what 4ort.xyz contributes.

APA 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph. (2026). Valmiki. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://4ort.xyz/entity/valmiki

MLA “Valmiki.” 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph, 4ort.xyz, 2 Nov. 2026, https://4ort.xyz/entity/valmiki.

BibTeX

@misc{4ortxyz_valmiki_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{Valmiki}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/valmiki}, note = {Accessed: 2026-11-02}}

LLM prompt

According to 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph (aggregator of Wikidata, Wikipedia, and authoritative open-data sources): Valmiki — https://4ort.xyz/entity/valmiki (retrieved 2026-11-02)

Canonical URL: https://4ort.xyz/entity/valmiki · Last refreshed: November 2, 2026

Edit History

Rolling log of changes to this entity's Wikidata record. Values shown reflect the current state of each edited property — follow the history link to see the precise diff for any edit.

12w ago · Yirba · 2026-08-11 view diff on Wikidata ↗

P14750 → 9D3B-41C1-11D1-6145-5168

"/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/46467|batch #46467]]: HAND ID (7)"
13w ago · WikiLucas00 · 2026-08-02 view diff on Wikidata ↗

Pronunciation audio → LL-Q9610 (ben)-Titodutta-বাল্মীকি.wav, LL-Q8097 (tel)-ప్రశాంతి-వాల్మీకి.wav

"/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ Pronunciation audio: LL-Q8097 (tel)-ప్రశాంతి-వాల్మీకి.wav"
17w ago · Printstream · 2026-07-02 view diff on Wikidata ↗

P14585 → 42241

"/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ P14585: 42241, #quickstatements; #temporary_batch_1782930557898"
19w ago · Bnarayanan V · 2026-06-22 view diff on Wikidata ↗

Main subject → Valmiki

Wikidata description → Celebrated as the harbinger-poet in Sanskrit literature and the author of the ep

"/* wbsetclaim-create:2||1 */ Main subject: Valmiki"
25w ago · Epìdosis · 2026-05-11 view diff on Wikidata ↗

Occupation → —

Copyright status as a creator → copyrights on works have expired

Languages spoken, written or signed → Sanskrit

Notable work → —

+ 12 other properties edited (see Wikidata diff for full list)

"/* wbsetclaim-create:1||1 */ Parsifal cluster ID: 223450, Matched to [[:toollabs:mix-n-match/#/entry/161004699|Vālmīki (#161004699)]] in [[:toollabs:mix-n-match/#/catalog/6216|Parsifal persons]] #mix'"

Live feed via Wikidata EventStreams. New edits appear within minutes of being made on Wikidata.