Gazal and fusion music singer Hariharan is a very happy man. His version of the Hanuman Chalisa on T Series’ YouTube channel has recorded over a billion hits. The video prominently features founder of T-Series, Gulshan Kumar. He tweeted, “ This goes to show that our belief in music and god is still going strong in these troubled times.”
Consuming spiritual and religious music along with mythological shows has gone up in these troubled times of the Coronavirus lockdown. In the month of April, the serial Ramayan on DD also recorded record TRPs.
As the folklore goes, in the Hindu mythology, Hanumanji helped Ramji in his troubled times (Sankat ki Ghadi). Children are often taught to recite the Hanuman Chalisa to invoke Hanumanji and seek his help in times of trouble. Also, it is believed that singing/listening this devotional hymn will help us imbibe Hanumanji’s qualities of strength, courage and wisdom.
Says Hariharan, “I knew the Hanuman Chalisa was very very popular throughout India across all Hindus be it South North East or West. Throughout the world, all temples played the Chalisa.”
For the uninitiated, Hariharan and Lesle Lewis, formed Colonial Cousins, is a two-member band. They have cut many private music albums and also scored music for few feature films in Tamil cinema and Bollywood cinema.
About the Hanuman Chalisa
The Hanuman Chalisa literally Forty Chaupais on Hanuman, is a devotional hymn (Stotra) addressed to Lord Hanuman. It has been authored by 16th-century poet Tulsidas in the Awadhi language. and is his best known text apart from the Ramcharitmanas.
The qualities of Hanuman – his strength, courage, wisdom, celibacy, devotion to Lord Rama and the many names by which he was known – are detailed in the Hanuman Chalisa. Recitation or chanting of the Hanuman Chalisa is a common religious practice.The Hanuman Chalisa is the most popular hymn in praise of Lord Hanuman, and is recited by millions of Hindus every day.