Hanuman Jayanti 2024: Date, Spiritual Importance and Joyous Celebrations of the Festival

Hanuman is the most strongest god of Hinduism.

Namaste!

Welcome to the world of resolute readings at www.onindianpath.com. Today, we are going to explore the significance of Hanuman Jayanti, meaning, and date.

Introduction

In Indian culture, we celebrate the birth anniversary of every deity with great pride and excitement. Eventually, we commemorate the birth anniversary of Hindu God Hanumana in large numbers by making bhogs and fasting on the day.

Moreover, it is believed that Lord Hanuman was born on Tuesday ; Purnima of Shukla Paksha of Chaitra Maas of hindu Panchang.

Every year we celebrate Purnima(full moon) of Chaitra Mas(April in western calendar) as Hanuman Jayanti or Hanuman Janamotsav.

In 2023, this auspicious day was celebrated on April 6, 2023.

And, in 2024, Hanuman Jayanti will be celebrated on April 23, 2024.

Significance of Hanuman Jayanti

Hanuman Jayanti has great significance amongst Hindus. All Hanuman devotees celebrate this day with great grandeur all over the country and the world too.

Apparently, Hinduism is the widely and vivaciously followed religion in India and sub continents. Further, Hinduism has guided humanity on moral and social grounds very actively. And, the two main epics of Hinduism, Mahabharata and Ramayana are examples of it. Ramayana tells us about the audacious deity lord Hanuman. Furthermore, Hanuman is Rudra avatar (reincarnation) of Lord Shiva.

According to sacred texts, he is the most strongest and muscular deity. Additionally, he was an avid devotee of lord Rama. Lord Rama is reincarnation of Lord Vishnu during treta yuga on Earth.

Who is Lord Hanumana?

Before, the name Hanuman was given, he was called Maruti by birth. Maruti comes from word Marut means “from air”. Also, Maruti was born to vanara Anjana and King of Vanara, Kesari. In addition to this, he is also known as Vayuaputra (pawan putra), son of Vayu Dev(God of wind). Not only this, he was also mischievous as a child.

Why is He Called Hanumana?

In his early childhood, once he was feeling very hungry and could not control his hunger. Thus, he saw the Sun and misunderstood it as a sweet fruit. Although, he had the ability to fly as he was the son of Lord Vayu(god of Wind). Meanwhile, Maruti went up in the sky to eat the Sun. All his enormous strength and vivid personality scared all the gods in heaven. As a result, they misunderstood him as a demon attacking the Sun.

On this, Indra( king of heaven) pounced on him with vajra (a weapon) on his jaw. However, this attack made him fall unconscious and crashed to the ground. And, he fell down on Earth from a very high point at a high speed, resulting in disfiguring his jaw.

Consequently, Vayu Dev stopped all the air and oxygen on Earth. This angered action of Vayu Dev led to death and misery everywhere. All the gods and Gandharva came down on Earth and apologized to him. To summarise, all the gods blessed young Maruti with great powers and skills. In return, Vayu Dev returned all the wind and air back to the Earth to revive life.

Indeed, Maruti was given a new name by all the gods present there, Hanuman, meaning of Hanuman is the disfigured Jaw.

What are The Characteristics of Hanumana?

Hindu God Hanumana is an extremely brave and strong god of Hinduism. His heroic deeds and intelligence has been mentioned in Mahabharata and Jain text too.

People call him chiranjeevi (long-lived) and Mahagyani (mastered all the four Vedas and many scripture). Infact, he is called karma yogi as he performs yoga which is affected by Karma(deeds).

Moreover, Lord Hanumana is best known as biggest Ram Bhakt(devotee of lord Rama).He served lord Rama, lived with lord Rama and lived entirely only for lord Rama. He helped and assisted lord Rama to fight with Demon Ravana and get Goddess Sita back from Lanka. Additionally, his intelligence and strength has been mentioned in Sunderkand of Ramayana.

Appearance of Hanuman

As per ancient text, Lord Hanuman is half monkey and half human body. He has a tail and facial features like a monkey. He has a valorous body of human with a very sharp and intelligent brain. He wears red color Langot (cloth covering lower part of body) with garland of 108 beads. He has a gada (mace) in his hand.

Why do people worship Lord Hanuman?

Worshipping Lord Hanuman vanishes all the demonic powers. Lord Hanuman is believed to be a balance maker between negative energy and positive energy. Because of his strength, valore, intelligent and immortal presence, he is assigned the duty to take away all the sorrows and pains of his followers by Lord Rama.
According to Astrology, worshipping Lord Hanuman makes one free from the sorrows and pains of life. Offering prayers and fasting on Tuesdays and Saturdays will earn a good name and fame to the person. As Lord Hanuman is the Lord of the planets Mars and Saturn, his worship blesses the devotees to nullify the negative effects of these planets.

It is advised to recite Hanuman Chalisa in front of the statue of Lord Hanuman to pacify the negative effects of Mangal in Horoscope. It is believed that worshipping the valorous deity makes one free from depression, tension, ailments and loans.

How to be Blissful by Worshipping Lord Hanuman?

Hanuman Jayanti is a big day for all the Hindu devotees as they celebrate it with great pomp and grandeur.
1. Devotees take bath early in the morning.
2. They visit temples and offer prayers to Lord Hanuman.
3. They fast throughout the day to mark the celebration of Hanuman Janamotsav.
4. They offer Laddu, flowers and red vermilion to the lord.
5. Some of the devotees offer Red Chola (a kind of cloth worn) with sesame oil, ghee and red vermilion.
6. In many parts of the country people offer jaggery and roasted black gram horse (chana) as bhog to the lord.
7. They recite Hanuman Chalisa and aarti in front of the deity.

Conclusion

Lord Hanuman is a deity who symbolizes selflessness and strength. On the auspicious day, one gets the blessings of Hanuman as he helps his followers to get rid of obstacles and misfortunes. One can achieve success and happiness by performing puja on this holy day. Fasting on this day helps the devotee to control his desires for food and strengthen his mind. Praying lord Hanuman brings prosperity and harmony in life.

Have a happy and blessed day!

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