Maharishi Valmiki is considered to be the first poet of Sanskrit language. Hence, he is also called the Adi Kavi. The great sage is known to have authored the epic Ramayana, which consists of 24,000 verses and 7 cantos. The epic also includes Uttara canto. As per Hindu lunar calendar, Valmiki Jayanti is celebrated on Ashwin Purnima. This year, Maharishi Valmiki's birth anniversary is celebrated on October 13. Valmiki Jayanti is also known as Pargat Diwas in certain parts of the country.
It is believed that Maharishi Valmiki was the contemporary of Lord Sri Ram. Therefore, defining an exact date and time of his birth as in the birth era of Lord Sri Rama is difficult. Which is why historians have used this method of using the Hindu lunar calendar to celebrate his birth anniversary. In the epic Ramayana, it is stated that Sri Rama met rishi Valmiki during his exile period and even interacted with him. Later on, as Lord Sri Ram banished his wife Devi Sita, she found shelter in rishi Valmiki's hermitage. It is the same place where Sita gave birth to her twin sons, Kusha and Lava. Valmiki further shared the knowledge of Ramayana with the sons as well.
A Hindu myth says that Maharishi Valmiki was a highway dacoit named Ratnakar in his early life. He would kill people and later rob from them. However, sage Narada Muni's involvement in his life turned him from a dacoit to a devotee of Lord Rama. On the advice of Narada Muni, Ratnakar quit his old robbing ways and decided to perform penance by reciting the mantra of Rama Nama. After years of meditation, his prayers were finally heard and he was bestowed with a new name, Valmiki.
On the day of Valmiki Jayanti, portraits of the sage, typically picturised as a monk wearing a saffron-hued robe and holding a quill and a paper, are paraded through the streets. This procession is called the Shobha Yatra. Devotees also croon bhakti geet as they parade down the streets.