Hindu Chalisa Lyrics
40-verse devotional hymns to the principal deities. Each chalisa with significance, benefits, opening verses, and meaning.
Hanuman Chalisa
हनुमान चालीसा
Believed to remove fear, grant strength and courage, and protect against negative influences.
Ganesh Chalisa
गणेश चालीसा
Ganesha is invoked first in every Hindu ritual.
Shiv Chalisa
शिव चालीसा
Shiva is the most accessible deity in Hindu tradition — said to be quickly pleased by sincere devotion.
Durga Chalisa
दुर्गा चालीसा
Durga is the source of all shakti (power) and the protector against evil.
Sai Chalisa
साईं चालीसा
Sai Baba transcends religious boundaries.
Krishna Chalisa
कृष्ण चालीसा
Frees the devotee from the eight kinds of bondage (ashta-bandhan) and grants worldly happiness alongside the path of bhakti.
Lakshmi Chalisa (Shri Lakshmi Chalisa)
श्री लक्ष्मी चालीसा
The Lakshmi Chalisa is the principal hymn of the Vaishnava prosperity tradition.
Saraswati Chalisa (Shri Saraswati Chalisa)
श्री सरस्वती चालीसा
Saraswati is the only one of the Tridevi (Lakshmi, Parvati, Saraswati) whose worship is uniquely tied to education and the arts.
Vishnu Chalisa (Shri Vishnu Chalisa)
श्री विष्णु चालीसा
In the Vaishnava household, Vishnu Chalisa is recited after the heavier Vishnu Sahasranama (1000 names) to seal the path.
Ram Chalisa (Shri Ram Chalisa)
श्री राम चालीसा
Like the Hanuman Chalisa, Ram Chalisa is a portable, recitable digest of the Ramayana’s essential teaching: that dharma succeeds, that surrender to Rama removes all sin, and that the chanting of his name (Ramanama) is itself the highest practice in the Kali Yuga.
Kartikeya Chalisa
कार्तिकेय चालीसा
Kartikeya embodies viveka (discrimination), valour, and the vanquishing of ego (Tarakasura symbolises ahamkara).
Bhairav Chalisa
भैरव चालीसा
No pilgrim's Kashi yatra is complete without seeking Kala Bhairava's permission first — he holds the keys to Vishwanath's city.
Gayatri Chalisa
गायत्री चालीसा
Called Veda Mata (mother of the Vedas), Deva Mata (mother of the gods), and Vishwa Mata (mother of the universe).
Surya Chalisa
सूर्य चालीसा
The only deity directly visible to the naked eye — every Vedic ritual begins with Surya Namaskar.
Navagraha Chalisa
नवग्रह चालीसा
The Navagrahas are not malefic forces but cosmic accountants delivering the precise fruits of past karma.
Bajrang Baan
बजरंग बाण
Considered the most powerful emergency invocation in the Hanuman tradition.
Narmada Chalisa
नर्मदा चालीसा
Narmada is the only river accorded the full 3600-km circumambulation (parikrama) — pilgrims walk both banks over 3 years 3 months 13 days.
Ganga Chalisa
गंगा चालीसा
No Hindu samskara is complete without Ganga jal — from birth to cremation.
Yamuna Chalisa
यमुना चालीसा
Bathing in Yamuna on her sister-day to Yama frees one from Yama-yatana (the torments after death) per the bond she extracted from her brother.
Mahalakshmi Chalisa (Kolhapur)
महालक्ष्मी चालीसा
While the common Lakshmi-Chalisa addresses Vishnu's consort as the giver of wealth, the Mahalakshmi Chalisa of Kolhapur addresses her as the supreme primordial Adi Shakti — combining Lakshmi, Saraswati, and Mahakali in a single fierce-yet-benevolent form.
Annapurna Chalisa
अन्नपूर्णा चालीसा
Annapurna is the only goddess whose worship is mandatory before any meal in traditional Hindu households — the prayer "Annapurne sadapurne" precedes lunch in Vaishnava and Shaiva homes alike.
Vindhyavasini Chalisa
विंध्यवासिनी चालीसा
Vindhyavasini is the supreme tantric Shakti of the eastern Gangetic plain — invoked for victory in seemingly impossible situations, since she herself escaped certain death in Kamsa's grip.
Tara Chalisa
तारा चालीसा
Tara is the supreme rescue-goddess: tarayati iti Tara — she who ferries the devotee across the ocean of samsara.
Dakshina Kali Chalisa
दक्षिणा काली चालीसा
Dakshina Kali is the principal tantric goddess of Bengal — worshipped at Dakshineshwar by Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, at Kalighat by countless tantric sadhakas, and in every Bengali household during Kali Puja on Diwali night.
Shitala Chalisa
शीतला चालीसा
Shitala embodies the recognition that the very forces that bring disease can also cure it when propitiated — she rewards reverence and afflicts negligence.
Parvati Chalisa
पार्वती चालीसा
Parvati embodies the principle that divine union is earned through unwavering tapas (austerity) and shraddha (faith).
Ayyappa Chalisa
अय्यप्पा चालीसा
Ayyappa's chalisa is the spiritual companion of every Sabarimala pilgrim during the 41-day vratam — when the devotee wears the black or saffron dhoti, the mala of tulsi or rudraksha tied by a Guruswami, practices strict celibacy, takes pre-dawn cold-water baths, and lives as an ascetic in his own home.
Dattatreya Chalisa
दत्तात्रेय चालीसा
Dattatreya is venerated as the Adi Guru — the original teacher — and the founder of the guru-shishya parampara.
Jagannath Chalisa
जगन्नाथ चालीसा
Jagannath's chalisa carries unique theological weight: in his Puri sanctum, no caste distinction applies — the Daitapatis (descended from the tribal Sabar chieftain Vishvavasu, who originally worshipped Nila Madhava) hold privileges that even Brahmin sevayats do not, and the Mahaprasad (the temple food, cooked in 752 earthen pots stacked vertically over wood fires in Ananda Bazaar — the world's largest temple kitchen) is consumed shoulder-to-shoulder by all castes.
Kuber Chalisa
कुबेर चालीसा
Kuber's chalisa is the foundational hymn for Vaibhava Lakshmi (prosperity) puja — recited together with Lakshmi Chalisa on every Friday evening and most powerfully on Dhanteras, the eve of Diwali, when households purify their wealth-storage spaces (lockers, vaults, gold jewellery cases) and invoke Kuber to take residence as the cosmic accountant who tracks the flow of dharmika dhana (righteous wealth).
Santoshi Mata Chalisa
सन्तोषी माता चालीसा
The most widely-observed vrat by north Indian women in the late 20th and 21st centuries.
Narsimha Chalisa
नृसिंह चालीसा
The supreme protective hymn in the entire Vaishnava tradition.
Vishwakarma Chalisa
विश्वकर्मा चालीसा
The foundational hymn for all artisan, engineer, architect, and manufacturer communities in India.
Brihaspati Chalisa (Guru Dev Chalisa)
बृहस्पति चालीसा
The supreme hymn for wisdom, knowledge, scholarship, marriage of unmarried girls (Brihaspati rules husband for women in Vedic astrology), and Jupiter graha shanti.
Mansa Devi Chalisa
मनसा देवी चालीसा
The supreme protective hymn against snake-related fears, snake-bite, infectious diseases (especially smallpox-cholera which were traditionally attributed to her wrath), and granting of children to barren couples.
Chitragupta Chalisa
श्री चित्रगुप्त चालीसा
Chanting the Chalisa is believed to absolve unintentional sins recorded in the karmic ledger, grant clarity of speech and pen, protect children studying for examinations, and ensure a peaceful passage at the hour of death by softening the judgment of Yama's court.
Baglamukhi Chalisa
श्री बगलामुखी चालीसा
Recitation is considered the supreme stambhana prayoga: it silences slanderers, wins lawsuits, halts black magic, and reverses curses.
Mahakali Chalisa
श्री महाकाली चालीसा
The Chalisa channels the terrifying-yet-tender Dakshineswar bhava made famous by Ramakrishna Paramahamsa: behind the bloodied form lies the boundless love of the universal mother.
Gajalakshmi Chalisa
श्री गजलक्ष्मी चालीसा
Gajalakshmi represents royal prosperity, agricultural abundance, cattle wealth, and the moisture-laden monsoon that sustains civilisation.
Radha Chalisa
श्री राधा चालीसा
Recitation is the sweetest gateway to madhurya-bhakti, the mood of conjugal love.
Batuk Bhairav Chalisa
श्री बटुक भैरव चालीसा
Recitation is regarded as the fastest shield in the entire Shaiva canon — Aghori tradition holds that 21 daily readings for 40 days create an invisible boy-warrior who circles the devotee and turns away every negative influence.
Mahishasura Mardini Chalisa
श्री महिषासुर मर्दिनी चालीसा
Where ordinary Durga hymns invoke maternal grace, this Chalisa invokes the warrior — it is the chosen text of soldiers, police officers, women facing harassment, and devotees confronting institutional injustice.
Matangi Chalisa
श्री मातंगी चालीसा
In Sri Vidya tradition, Matangi rules the throat chakra and is the inner guru of all artistic expression — without her grace, no Saraswati mantra fully fruits.
Bhuvaneshwari Chalisa
श्री भुवनेश्वरी चालीसा
Unlike fierce or ascetic Mahavidyas, Bhuvaneshwari is the gentle empress — Sri Vidya holds that without her permission no devotee can possess land, build a home, or rule a kingdom.
Chinnamasta Chalisa
श्री छिन्नमस्ता चालीसा
Considered the most esoteric of Mahavidya chalisas — traditionally taught only to disciples who have spent twelve years on simpler practices.
Shirdi Sai Chalisa
श्री साईं चालीसा
The most-recited non-traditional chalisa across modern India and the diaspora, equally popular with Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Parsis because Baba transcended sectarian boundaries.
Sankatmochan Chalisa
श्री संकटमोचन चालीसा
Tuesday and Saturday evening recitations at the Sankat Mochan temple in Varanasi draw thousands; the temple distributes laddu prasad believed to carry Hanuman's healing power.
Parvati Chalisa
श्री पार्वती चालीसा
The principal chalisa for women across northern India — the Mangala Gauri Vrat of unmarried girls and the Shravan-Somvar fasts of newly married women both centre on its recitation.
Kartikeya Chalisa (Skanda)
श्री कार्तिकेय स्कन्द चालीसा
In north India Kartikeya is unusually invoked only by men — north Indian wives traditionally do not visit his temples as he chose celibacy.
Tara Chalisa
श्री तारा चालीसा
The single most powerful text in the Tarapith tradition — Vamakhepa, the 19th-century Tarapith Mahasiddha, recited it standing in the Dwarka river.
Durga Chalisa
दुर्गा चालीसा
Considered the simplest and most accessible Shakti stuti — eliminates fear, grants protection from negative forces, and is believed to dissolve mangal-dosha & shani-related afflictions.
Sai Chalisa
साईं चालीसा
Sai Baba's syncretic message of Sabka Malik Ek (One God of all) makes this chalisa universally accessible across Hindu, Muslim and Christian devotees.
Narsimha Chalisa
नृसिंह चालीसा
Narsimha is the destroyer of every protection-loophole (Hiranyakashipu's boon protected him from man/animal, day/night, indoors/outdoors, weapons/elements — Narsimha appeared at twilight on a threshold, half-man-half-lion, tore him apart with claws).
Ganga Chalisa
गङ्गा चालीसा
Ganga is the only river worshipped as a goddess across every Hindu sampraday — Shaiva, Vaishnav, Shakta and Smarta.
Mahalakshmi Chalisa
महालक्ष्मी चालीसा
Mahalakshmi is invoked not just for material wealth but for the eight forms of Lakshmi (Ashta-Lakshmi): Adi, Dhana, Dhanya, Gaja, Santana, Veera, Vijaya, Vidya.