Hanuman Chalisa

What it is

The Hanuman Chalisa is a hymn of praise to the god Hanuman. It belongs to a Hindu devotional form called stotra, and its name comes from chālīs, the Hindi word for forty. That number refers to the forty quatrains, called chaupais, at its heart. Tulsidas composed the hymn in Awadhi. The complete work has forty-three verses: two couplets, or dohas, at the start, then the forty chaupais, then one closing doha. Among the writings connected with Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas, the Chalisa is the one most widely known.

The deity it praises

Hanuman is the figure the Chalisa addresses. In Hindu telling he is a devoted servant of Rama, the seventh avatar of Vishnu, and he takes a leading part in the Ramayana, serving as one of the vanara generals and fighting in Rama's war against the rakshasa king Ravana. Many bhakti traditions worship him, and temples called Hanuman mandirs often hold him as their chief deity. Within Shaiva tradition, he is honoured as an incarnation of Shiva. The hymn praises his strength, his courage, his wisdom, his celibacy, or brahmacharya, and above all his devotion to Rama.

Inside the poem

The Chalisa opens with two dohas, and the first of them begins with shrī guru, a nod to Shiva as Hanuman's teacher. Forty chaupais follow. The first ten describe Hanuman's auspicious form, his knowledge, his virtues, his strength and his courage. Chaupais eleven to twenty turn to his work for Rama, and several of these tell how he helped restore Lakshmana. In the twenty-first, Tulsidas speaks of the need for Hanuman's kripa, or grace. The poem ends with a doha in which the poet asks Hanuman to stay in his heart, together with Rama, Lakshmana and Sita.

Tulsidas of Varanasi

Tulsidas was a poet and saint of the sixteenth century, a reformer and philosopher whose devotion was to Rama. He wrote in Awadhi, and his Ramcharitmanas retells the Ramayana in that language. People in his own lifetime spoke of him as a second Valmiki, the Sanskrit poet who composed the older Ramayana. He spent his last years in Varanasi, where a riverfront step, Tulsi Ghat, carries his name. He also founded the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple there, said to stand where he first saw Hanuman, and he began the Ramlila plays that stage the Ramayana as folk theatre.

In song and film

Recordings have carried the Chalisa far beyond the people who say it themselves. A version sung by Hari Om Sharan, first issued in the 1970s and reissued later, became a familiar sound in temples and households in northern India, and it follows traditional melodies in the raga Mishra Khamaj. Bhajan singers such as Anup Jalota and Ravindra Jain have sung it, as have classical performers including Pandit Jasraj, M. S. Subbulakshmi and the Mishra brothers. Krishna Das has given both slow and fast readings. The hymn also appears in Hindi films, and an animated film has been made about it.

How Hanuman Chalisa is kept

A Hindu may say the Chalisa at home alone or hear it sung with others. Many have learned the whole text by heart, so no book is needed. Tuesday and Saturday are the days most closely tied to it, and it is said on ordinary days as well. Those who recite it believe they are asking for Hanuman's grace and for protection and spiritual merit.

When and where

The Chalisa is not tied to one festival date. Hindus recite it through the year, and many say it every day. Tuesday and Saturday carry special weight, since both days are devoted to Hanuman. Where it is sung in groups, those are the usual days. No fixed month or season is given for it.

It belongs to India, where Tulsidas wrote it, and Varanasi, the city he lived in, is the place most closely linked with him. Recitation spreads across Hindu households, and a popular recorded version became a common sound in temples and homes in northern India. Recordings have carried the hymn to listeners far outside the places where Awadhi is spoken.

What Hanuman Chalisa means

Those who recite the Chalisa hold that it brings protection, spiritual merit and, at the end, liberation. Praise of Hanuman is also praise of devotion itself: the hymn sets his strength, wisdom and learning beside his service to Rama, and treats him as a deity worth approaching in his own right, not only as someone else's servant. The closing request is simple and intimate. Tulsidas asks Hanuman to live in his heart, and in the hearts of all who repeat the words.

Questions people ask about Hanuman Chalisa

See also

Nazar battuA protective custom in South Asia using deliberate flaws or charms to deflect the evil eye.ThaipusamA Tamil Hindu festival honoring Murugan through devotional burdens and pilgrimageChhath PujaA four-day Hindu festival honouring the sun and Chhathi Maiya along riverbanksSheetala AshtamiA day for the goddess Shitala, kept eight days after Holi with food cooked in advance

Good reading and sources

• Hanuman Chalisa on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.