Hanuman Jayanti

Hanuman’s birthday is on the first full moon of Spring. Beginning at 1:08 pm on Friday April 3rd, we sing Hanuman Chalisas for 24 hours followed by prasad Saturday afternoon. The celebration concludes with a big birthday cake and a children’s party for Hanumanji.Click for stories and translation of the Hanuman Chalisa for a more intimate understanding of this transformative prayer.

In the Ramayana, Hanuman symbolizes the sadhana shakti, or power of spiritual practice. He is also the symbol of the faith that can move mountains. He is the son of the monkey hero Kesari (lion-like resolve), and mother Anjani (beautifying collyrium—the divine ungent of pure feeling applied to the vision of the soul). God in the form of Cosmic Prana-the wind-god, Vayu (an aspect of the Cosmic Mind)-is his Divine Father. In fact, Hanuman is an emanation of Lord Shiva (Brahman, or the unchanging reality amidst and beyond the world). The emergence of faith in the heart of an aspirant is the result of the convergence all of these mystical elements.It is believed that wherever and whenever the Ramayana is read, Hanuman (in an invisible form) is present with wistful ears adorned with mystic earrings,craving to listen to the delightful narrative of Lord Rama’s life story again and again. -Based on commentary by Swami Jyotirmayananda, “A Mystical Interpretation of the Hanuman Chalisa”