When is Hanuman Jayanti?
The answer
Tuesday, 20 April 2027
The full moon of Chaitra.
Why that day
- The tithi it is
- Chaitra Shukla Purnima
Read the ordinary way: the day whose SUNRISE this tithi is running at.
And after that
Sunday, 9 April 2028
Chaitra Shukla Purnima
Friday, 30 March 2029
Chaitra Shukla Purnima
How this date is worked out
A festival is a position, not a date. The lunar month is named by the sidereal sign the Sun stands in at the new moon that opens it, and the tithi is the Moon's distance from the Sun in twelve-degree steps. Both come from the same ephemeris this site casts birth charts with.
North India reckons a month from full moon to full moon, so the dark fortnight carries the next month's name — the same day is Shravana Krishna Tritiya in Pune and Bhadrapada Krishna Tritiya in Delhi. These dates use the northern reckoning, and the tithi is printed above so there is nothing to take on trust.
Why it is kept
Chaitra Purnima — Hanuman's birthday, and in north India this is the main date. The south and some other regions keep it on a different day, which is no contradiction: some traditions treat theirs as the birth, others as the Vijaya Abhinandan Mahotsav. Hanuman is one of the eight chiranjivis, the ones who did not die — so in this tradition there is no death anniversary, only a birthday. Tuesday and Saturday are his days, and a Jayanti falling on either is counted as special.
The story behind it
Anjana's austerity
Anjana was in the form of a vanari under a curse. She kept years of austerity for a son.
The share of kheer
At the same time the Putrakameshti yagna was going on in Ayodhya. A kite carried off a portion of the kheer and it fell into Anjana's hands — Vayu had carried it there.
The birth
Hanuman was born of that kheer. So he is Vayu's son too, and his birth is tied to Rama's.
The sun as fruit
As a child he took the rising sun for a fruit and leapt at it. Indra struck him with the vajra and broke his jaw — hanu — and that is the name.
Forgetting his strength
Vayu in anger held the breath of the world; the devas gave boons to pacify him, and with them the condition that he would forget his own strength until someone reminded him. Jambavant reminded him before the leap across the sea.
What to keep ready
- Sindoor and jasmine oil, for the chola
- A red langot and red cloth
- Boondi laddus, jaggery with gram, and bananas
- A paan beeda, which the tradition holds particular
- Red flowers, hibiscus above all
- The Bajrang Baan, the Hanuman Chalisa and the Sundarkand
- A lamp of ghee or jasmine oil
- Tulsi, because he is Rama's
How the puja is done
1
Brahma muhurta
The tradition puts his birth at sunrise, so the puja is early. Bathe and wear red or yellow.
2
The chola
Sindoor mixed with jasmine oil, applied to the image. The story is that Hanuman, seeing Sita put sindoor in her parting, put it over his whole body.
3
The puja
Red flowers, a red langot, lamp, incense. Boondi laddus, jaggery and gram, banana and paan as bhog.
4
The reading
The Hanuman Chalisa, the Bajrang Baan, or the whole Sundarkand — which is the fittest reading for the Jayanti.
5
Rama
Hanuman's puja is not held complete without Rama. His name belongs in the bhog and the reading.
6
Giving
Jaggery and gram, red cloth, or food. Feeding monkeys and cows belongs to this day.
What to do
- If you offer a chola, mix the sindoor with jasmine oil — not mustard, not refined.
- Finish the reading; do not leave it partway. A Sundarkand once begun is completed in one sitting.
- Say Rama's name in the puja; Hanuman's worship is held incomplete without it.
- A Jayanti falling on a Tuesday or Saturday is a particular day to keep the fast.
- Give out jaggery and gram today, and feed bananas to the monkeys.
- Brahmacharya — that is a stated rule of this vrat.
What not to do
- No meat, no drink and no tamasik food today — the strictest rule of any Hanuman vrat.
- By custom women do not touch the image or apply the chola; there is no bar on the puja, the reading or the bhog.
- Do not worship a chipped or broken image.
- Share the prasad before you eat any of it.
- No harsh words today, and keep clear of anger.
- Do not throw away the charanamrit offered to him.
The aarti
Aarti Kije Hanuman Lala Ki
आरती कीजै हनुमान लला की, दुष्ट दलन रघुनाथ कला की।
जाके बल से गिरिवर काँपे, रोग-दोष जाके निकट न झाँके॥
अंजनि पुत्र महा बलदाई, संतन के प्रभु सदा सहाई।
दे बीरा रघुनाथ पठाए, लंका जारि सिया सुधि लाए॥
लंका सो कोट समुद्र सी खाई, जात पवनसुत बार न लाई।
लंका जारि असुर संहारे, सियारामजी के काज सँवारे॥
लक्ष्मण मूर्छित पड़े सकारे, आनि सजीवन प्राण उबारे।
पैठि पाताल तोरि जम-कारे, अहिरावण की भुजा उखारे॥
बाएँ भुजा असुरदल मारे, दाहिने भुजा संतजन तारे।
सुर-नर-मुनि जन आरती उतारे, जय जय जय हनुमान उचारे॥
कंचन थार कपूर लौ छाई, आरती करत अंजना माई।
जो हनुमानजी की आरती गावै, बसि बैकुंठ परमपद पावै॥
The sky has a calendar. So do you.
The same engine reads your own birth moment — every house, every graha, every period with dates.