Hanuman Jayanti 2026: How did the god of Kaliyuga Bajrangbali get the name ‘Hanuman’? Know the mythological story

Hanuman’s birth anniversary has special significance in Hindu religion. On this day, huge crowds gather in temples and worship along with rituals have special significance. In Hindu religion, Lord Hanuman is called Sankatmochan and he is considered the eleventh incarnation of Lord Shiva. According to the Hindu calendar, the birth anniversary of Lord Hanuman is celebrated every year on the full moon date of Chaitra month.

According to the Hindu calendar, this year Chaitra Purnima Tithi will be from 07:05 AM on 01 April to 07:42 AM on 02 April. According to Udaya Tithi, Hanuman Jayanti will be celebrated on 02 April.

auspicious time of puja

According to the Hindu calendar, this year there will be three Abuj Muhurtas for worship on Hanuman Jayanti. The best time for worship on Hanuman Jayanti on April 02 will be from 06:11 AM to 7:45 AM. The afternoon will be on Abhijeet Muhurta from 12 o’clock to 12.50. Apart from this, the auspicious time will be from 6.39 pm to 08.06 pm.

Importance of Hanuman Janmotsav

Hanuman ji, a great devotee of Lord Shri Ram, is considered the awakened god of Kaliyuga. It is believed that he is immediately pleased by the true devotion of his devotees and removes even the biggest problems from their lives. By worshiping Lord Hanuman, a person attains happiness, peace, health and success. Besides, negative powers also stay away from his devotees. This is why he is also called the troubleshooter. Hanuman ji is known by many names, like Bajrangbali, Anjaniputra, Pawanputra, Rambhakt etc. But how his most famous name ‘Hanuman’ came to be, there is an interesting mythological story behind it.

This is how Bajrangbali got the name Hanuman

According to religious texts, Hanuman ji’s childhood name was ‘Maruti’. He was the son of Mata Anjani and Pawan Dev. One day when he was a child, he felt very hungry. Then his eyes fell on a red colored fruit shining in the sky. Thinking it to be a fruit, they jumped to eat it. But that red fruit was none other than the Sun God. Coincidentally, that day was Amavasya and Rahu was moving forward to eclipse the Sun. But before that, child Maruti reached Surya and swallowed him.

As soon as Suryadev disappeared, darkness spread throughout the world. All the gods and creatures became worried. Then all the gods together tried to convince Maruti, but he did not agree. Finally help was sought from Devraj Indra. When Maruti did not free the Sun despite repeated requests from Indradev, he hit Maruti’s chin (Hanu) with his thunderbolt. Suryadev was freed from this blow, but Maruti got injured and fell on the earth and his chin became crooked.

When Pawan Dev came to know about this incident that happened to his son, he became extremely angry. He stopped the flow of air all over the earth, due to which the lives of living beings were in danger. There was havoc all around. Then all the gods came to calm the wind god and prayed to him to restart the air flow. The gods healed child Maruti and also blessed him with many divine powers. His ‘Hanu’ (chin) was affected by the attack of Indra’s thunderbolt, hence on the basis of that he was named ‘Hanuman’.