All Blogs · Theology Thursday ·May 25, 2023

Why do Hindus recite the Hanuman Chalisa

The Hanuman Chalisa is a 40 verse poem (chalisa means 40) dedicated to Lord Hanuman and his heroic deeds. It seeks blessings for us to lead a righteous life and cultivate qualities such as humility and love.

Hanuman symbolizes courage, loyalty, devotion, strength determination, and humility. Chanting Hanuman Chalisa is believed to help overcome obstacles and attain success in life.

Who wrote it?

It is believed that Tulsidas wrote the Hanuman Chalisa while imprisoned by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Tulsidas was inspired to write the hymn after having a vision of Hanuman.

He wrote the Hanuman Chalisa by composing one verse per day for 40 days.During this time, the jailers started seeing troops of monkeys outside the prison cell. The monkeys were said to be the divine monkeys of Lord Hanuman. The monkeys caused havoc, and the jailers were unable to control them. The emperor feared that Tulsidas had divine power to control the monkeys. He immediately released Tulsidas who emerged unscathed and unharmed.

Why it's considered to be Powerful?

Ravan had locked up all of the planets including Saturn (known as "Shani Dev") some place where it would be difficult for them to get out.

Why???

That's a whole other story, but suffice it to say, Ravan was literally trying to get all the stars to line up when his son was about to be born.

Turns out, while Hanuman was on the search for Sita in Lanka (after she was kidnapped by Ravan) Hanuman happened to find Shani Dev and rescue him.

As a token of his appreciation, Shani Dev gave a boon to Hanuman that the effect of Shani's inauspiciousness will never affect him in any way.

In return, Hanuman asked that none of his devotees be affected either. Shani Dev obliged. Thus, people worship Hanuman by singing the Hanuman Chalisa (especially on Saturdays) to protect themselves from the negative effects of Saturn.

Lord Hanuman is considered to be one of the seven Chiranjeevi (immortal beings who are believed to still exist on Earth). Since Hanuman is physically closer to us human beings, He's able to hear and respond to our prayers quicker.

Stories of Miracle...

"When Kiara was about 3 years old, she almost got hit very hard on her forehead and there was no way she could have escaped, but in a fraction of a second, she stopped just before the hit (and I was watching her all this while but everything happened so fast that I couldn't react in time). When I asked her if she was okay, and if anything happened or if she was hurt, she just looked at me and said, "Mumma, Hanumanji saved me." I couldn't believe my ears bit she said she saw Him standing there."

" I have always wanted a child since the time my wife and I got married. As a guy, I found it difficult to find others to talk about infertility. But Hanuman was always there. I played Hanuman Chalisa every morning. After our embryo transfer, it was playing on loop in the house until we found out we were pregnant. Now throughout the pregnancy, our baby has been listening to the Ramayan and Hanuman Chalisa everyday."

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