HANUMAN CHALISA: With Meaning

ABOUT HANUMAN CHALISA :

The Hanuman Chalisa (Devanagari: हनुमान चालीसा; Hindi pronunciation: [ɦənʊmaːn tʃaːliːsaː]; literally Forty chaupais on Hanuman) is a Hindu devotional hymn (stotra) addressed to Hanuman.

It is traditionally believed to have been authored by 16th-century poet Tulsidas in the Awadhi language, and is his best known text apart from the Ramcharitmanas. The word "chālīsā" is derived from "chālīs", which means the number forty in Hindi, as the Hanuman Chalisa has 40 verses (excluding the couplets at the beginning and at the end).

Hanuman is a vanara (a monkey-like humanoid deity), a devotee of Rama, and one of the central characters in the Sanskrit epic Ramayana. Folk tales increasingly eulogise the powers of Hanuman, and he is considered by many to be an avatar of the god Shiva. The qualities of Hanuman – his strength, courage, wisdom, celibacy, devotion to Rama and the many names by which he was known – are detailed in the Hanuman Chalisa. There are more temples devoted to Hanuman than any other deity in India, and recitation or chanting of the Hanuman Chalisa is a common religious practice.