Tuesday (Mangalvar) and Saturday are the days devotees keep for Hanuman ji. On Tuesday many read the Hanuman Chalisa once or a few times, light a lamp, offer sindoor or red flowers and visit a Hanuman temple.
It is a custom, not a rule: the Chalisa can be read on any day, and what it gives is the same.
Why Tuesday Is Hanuman ji’s Day
No verse of the Chalisa names a day; Tuesday is a living custom. Devotees give three reasons:
Mangal’s day. Tuesday is Mangalvar, the day of Mangala, who is painted red and carries a mace. Hanuman ji too is offered red sindoor and carries a gada.
His birth. Many devotees hold that Hanuman ji was born on a Tuesday. His birthday itself is kept on Hanuman Jayanti.
Long custom. Tuesday and Saturday have long been kept for Hanuman ji, and the Hanuman Chalisa is recited most on those two days.
Why Saturday Too
A popular story, told in several ways, says that Hanuman ji freed Shani Dev from Ravana’s prison in Lanka, and Shani Dev promised in return not to trouble Hanuman ji’s devotees. That is why many people read the Chalisa on Saturdays, especially during Shani’s Sade Sati.
It is a story of faith, not a promise; read it on Saturday if your family does.
Reading the Chalisa on a Tuesday
A simple way to keep the day. None of it is a must.
1. Bathe, and if you like, wear red or saffron.
2. Light a lamp before Hanuman ji’s picture and offer sindoor or red flowers.
3. Read the Hanuman Chalisa, in Hindi or English letters: once, or 3, 7 or 11 times by custom. How many times and keeping a count are on their own pages.
4. If you wish, read the Bajrang Baan too.
5. End with the Hanuman aarti and share the prasad.
6. Visit a Hanuman temple if you can. Morning or evening, whichever you can keep.
Many devotees also keep the Tuesday fast; its rules and katha are on our Mangalvaar vrat page.
What to Offer on Tuesday
Sindoor, red flowers, a lamp of ghee or oil, and prasad of boondi, gud-chana or banana are the usual offerings. Offer what you can; devotion matters more than the offering.
In many temples devotees offer Hanuman ji a chola: sindoor mixed with chameli (jasmine) oil, spread over the murti. Do it as your temple or family does; at home, a little sindoor on the picture is enough.
Bada Mangal
The Tuesdays of the month of Jyeshtha (May to June) are kept as Bada Mangal, above all in Lucknow, where every Hanuman temple holds bhandaras and people serve water and food on the streets. Many devotees read the Chalisa more on these Tuesdays.
What a Tuesday Reading Gives
What the Chalisa gives is the same on every day: a settled mind and courage in hard times, as its own verses say. Tuesday adds two things: the company of many devotees reading on the same day, and a fixed day that turns reading into a habit.
What the verses promise, and what they do not, is on our benefits page.
मंगलवार को हनुमान चालीसा
मंगलवार क्यों? यह परंपरा है। मंगलवार मंगल ग्रह का दिन है, जिनका रंग लाल है और हाथ में गदा है, जैसे हनुमान जी को लाल सिंदूर चढ़ता है और उनके हाथ में गदा है। बहुत से भक्त मानते हैं कि हनुमान जी का जन्म मंगलवार को हुआ था। शनिवार को भी पाठ होता है: एक प्रचलित कथा है कि हनुमान जी ने शनि देव को रावण की कैद से छुड़ाया था।
फायदे: चालीसा पढ़ने के फायदे हर दिन एक जैसे हैं: मन शांत होता है और कठिन समय में साहस मिलता है। मंगलवार को बहुत से भक्त एक साथ पाठ करते हैं, और तय दिन से पाठ की आदत बनती है। यह श्रद्धा की बात है, वादा नहीं।
कैसे पढ़ें: स्नान करें, हनुमान जी के चित्र के सामने दीया जलाएँ, सिंदूर या लाल फूल चढ़ाएँ, चालीसा एक बार या परंपरा से 3, 7 या 11 बार पढ़ें, और आरती करें। प्रसाद में बूंदी, गुड़-चना या केला चढ़ाएँ। पूरा पाठ हमारे हिंदी पेज पर है।
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions people often ask about Tuesday and Saturday, in English and in Hindi.
Read the Hanuman Chalisa in Hindi or English letters, keep the Tuesday vrat, or end with the aarti.