Lord Hanuman

Who Lord Hanuman is

Hanuman is the vanara (forest-dwelling, monkey-formed) devotee of Rama, the central hero of the Sundara Kanda of the Ramayana, and one of the most beloved deities in popular Hindu devotion. He is the archetype of bhakti — selfless, fearless devotion that asks nothing for itself — and the patron of strength, courage, celibacy, learning, and the breath itself. He is also called Bajrangbali (the one with limbs of thunderbolt), Maruti (son of Maruta, the wind-god Vayu), Pavanaputra, Anjaneya (son of Anjana), and dozens of other names that catalogue his lineage and deeds.

The Ramayana presents Hanuman as the messenger who crosses the ocean to find Sita in Lanka, the warrior who burns the demon-city, the healer who carries the Sanjivani mountain to revive Lakshmana, and finally the immortal who remains on earth wherever Rama’s name is sung. The Sundara Kanda — the fifth book of the epic — is read in many households on Tuesdays and Saturdays for protection and for the resolution of stuck circumstances.

Festivals and worship days

Hanuman Jayanti — Hanuman’s birthday — is the principal festival, celebrated on the full moon of Chaitra (March–April) in north India, and on different dates in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, reflecting regional traditions about when Hanuman was born.

Tuesday and Saturday are the conventional weekly days for Hanuman worship across India. Devotees commonly recite the Hanuman Chalisa eleven, twenty-one, or one hundred and eight times on these days, fast, visit a Hanuman temple, or offer sindoor — the orange-red pigment with which his images are smeared as a mark of his unbroken bond with Rama.

What devotees seek

Hanuman is invoked for strength in adversity, for protection from fear and from harm both visible and unseen, for the breaking of stubborn obstacles, for victory over enemies, and for the dissolution of accumulated karmic burdens. He is also the patron of students, athletes, wrestlers, and those undertaking long or difficult journeys.

The Hanuman Chalisa, attributed to the sixteenth-century poet-saint Tulsidas, is by some measures the single most-recited devotional text in the Hindi-speaking world. It is collected here with verses, line-by-line meaning, and historical context, alongside other Hanuman compositions for daily and Tuesday/Saturday practice.