Hanuman Chalisa | |
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Information | |
Religion | Hinduism |
Author | Tulsidas |
Language | Awadhi[1] |
Verses | 40 |
The Hanuman Chalisa (Hindi pronunciation: [ɦənʊmaːn tʃaːliːsaː]; Forty chaupais on Hanuman) is a Hindu devotional hymn (stotra) in praise of Hanuman, and popularly recited by millions of Hindus everyday.[2][3][4][5][6] It is an Awadhi language text attributed to Tulsidas,[2] and is his best known text apart from the Ramcharitmanas.[7][8] The word 'chālīsā' is derived from 'chālīs' meaning the number 'forty' in Hindi, denoting the number of verses in the Hanuman Chalisa (excluding the couplets at the beginning and the end).[2]
Hanuman is a Hindu deity and a devotee of the Hindu god, Rama. He is one of the central characters of the Ramayana. According to the Shaiva tradition, he is also an incarnation of Shiva. The Hanuman Chalisa praises the power and other qualities of Hanuman including his strength, courage, wisdom, celibacy (brahmacharya), and devotion to Rama.[9]