How to Perform Hanuman Puja at Home

Hanuman Puja at Home can be performed in a very simple manner to obtain his blessings. You need to have faith and belief in Him and worship with pure devotion.

Lord Hanuman is considered as one of the most powerful Gods with unlimited powers.

He is a part of Lord Shiva's energy. Hanuman was born in a monkey form to Anjana Devi. So, he is known as Anjani Putra (son of Anjani Devi). He is also called as Vayu Putra as his father is the powerful Vayu God (The Wind God).

Hanuman is believed to have been provided with the Ashta Siddhi (Eight miraculous powers) during his discipleship with the Sun God.

So, worshiping Hanuman is a great boon for you as he gets pleased very quickly and protects you from all the problems of your life (just as he helped Lord Rama during all his problems).

Panchamukhi Hanuman

Hanuman took the form of Panchamukha (five-headed Hanuman) bearing the head of Garuda, Narasimha, Varaha, Hayagreeva, and himself to kill Ahiravan, a brother of Ravana. So, he is worshiped in the form of Five Heads also.


Items Required for Hanuman Puja

I don't think that God insists on performing his Puja or worship in a grand manner causing you inconvenience, both financially and physically.

A simple but honest worship is enough to obtain his love and blessings.

So, you need some flowers, agarbatti, oil light, a little bit of camphor, some fruits and/or a coconut. That is enough to appease Lord Hanuman.

Remeber that Hanuman is fond of bananas and coconut. You can offer anyone of that.

Hanuman Puja at Home

You can worship Lord Hanuman daily. If you can't afford daily puja, you may worship him on Tuesdays and Saturdays which are liked by Him.

• Just like other pujas, you need to take your bath and wear clean clothes.
• Clean the place of worship and sprinkle some drops of water where you keep the image of Hanuman.
• You may place Him on a red cloth, if possible, as Hanuman likes the Sindhoor color which he has applied all over his body to show his love towards the Mother Goddess (it is told that he once saw one Devi or Goddess applying the sindoor in the parting-line of her hair).
• Apply the tilak to him and offer some flowers.
• Recite some prayers of Hanuman. You can start with Hanuman prayers and Hanuman Dwadasha Namavali (12 names of Hanuman). Thereafter, you can read the Hanuman Chalisa.
• Offer flowers at intervals to Lord while doing the worship, if you have them. There is no obligation. You can simply seek his mercy.
• After worship is over, show the incense sticks to God and place them on the side.
• Then show the oil light to him by moving your palm from the light towards God.
• Thereafter, offer the bananas and coconut to him. You can offer any naivedyam cooked specially for that purpose if you like to do so. While offering the naivedyam, if it is a cooked dish, sprinkle some water on it and you may sprinkle ghee also. If it is banana, open a small bit of the peel and sprinkle water. If coconut, you will first break the coconut into two halves (collecting the water in a bowl if possible) and place the two parts before God sprinkling some water and then offer it.
• Anything being offered to God means that you are acting like serving the food. You will show the food with the ring-finger of your right hand, touching the food if possible, and move the finger towards God's mouth as if putting it into his mouth. That is the true devotion.
• Now, you can light the Kapoor or camphor and chant the mangalasasanam (the lyrics sung for the wellbeing of all the people in the world). 
• After singing the mangalasasanam, your puja is over. You need to sprinkle some drops of water around the lighting camphor and then bow to it. 
• Now, bow to the God and take the teertham and prasadam with your right hand. After taking yourself, you will distribute it to other members of your family and people present there.

Hanuman worship provides you with much power and confidence. But, you need to keep faith in Him and do the worship honestly. He does not require any hard penance or any offerings from you. Only your faith and sincere prayers are required. So obtain his blessings and be happy.

Ashtakam | Ashtottara Shata Namam | Sahasra Namam

There are many types of lyrical praise of Gods composed by devotees based on the length of those lyrics and the number of names included in those stotras.

When these names are uttered in a lyrical form, they are known as "Stotram". If the same is uttered in a name form, they are known as "Namavali".

Stotram is a praise of God.

Namavali is the worship done by chanting individual names in a row, one after one.

While worshiping God with Namavali, you will be offering flowers or any other worship material like kumkum, turmeric, turmeric-mixed rice, or any leaves or grass that is regarded as a worship material.

But, when you worship with the stotram method, you need not offer those worship materials at each name. You will offer those flowers at one time before doing the worship and you may keep some flowers to be offered at the end of the worship.

Now, let us talk about those types of stotras or naamaavaLi.

Previously, I mentioned about Panchakshari and Ashtakshari forms of worship.

Now, I will tell about Ashtakam, Ashtottaram, and Sahasranamam.

Ashtakam

Ashtakam is a combination of eight slokas, stanzas or musical hymns in praise of any God for worship. Normally, each stanza is made up of four lines. But, at times, it can be of two-liners also.

Some popular examples for ashtakam are:

Hari Ashtakam, Shiva Ashtakam, Krishna Ashtakam, Mahalakshmi Ashtakam, Vaidyanatha Ashtakam, etc.

When you do the worship, you can offer flowers at the end of each ashtakam.

Ashtakam is generally concluded with one or more stanzas extra that explain the benefits of reading that ashtakam.

Ashtottara Shata Namam

Ashtottara shata namam is a unique composition style wherein, 108 names of God/Goddess are mentioned for worship. 

It can be either in a stotram form or in mere names format.

When it is sung in a lyrical form, it is known as Ashtottara Shatanama Stotram. 

When the worship is done by pronouncing each name separately, prefixing with "Om" and suffixing with "namaha", it is known as Ashtottara Shata Namavali.

Popular among those ashtottara stotram are, the Krishna Ashtottara Shata Nama Stotram, Laxmi Ashtottara Shata Nama Stotram, Shiva Ashtottara Shata Nama Stotram, Durga Ashtottara Shata Nama Stotram, etc.

Examples for Ashtottara Shata Namavali are: Sri Rama Ashtottara Shatanamavali, Krishna Ashtottara Shatanamavali, Laxmi Ashtottara Shatanamavali, etc.

Thes worships can be done offering 108 flowers, one at each name.

Sahasra Namam

The word "Sahasra" means the number "one thousand". So, sahasra namam refers to the compilation that contains 1000 names of God.

But, one thousand is considered as an incomplete number for any God. So, they add eight more names to complete it. 

So, literally, it becomes 1008 names which can be referred to as "Ashtottara Sahasra Nama Stotram" or "Ashtottara Sahasra Namavali".

These modes of worship reciting the 1008 names are mostly done for special purpose puja or worships. You may offer these worships in your daily routine also if you can afford the time. You may do it weekly once or monthly once. But, mostly, you can find these special worships during festival times, or during celebrating any life-events like celebrating the birthday or naming ceremony, upanayanam, marriage, etc.; or on occasions of starting new constructions, projects, or any major events of life.

Popular Sahasra Nama Stotrams are the Vishnu Sahasranama Stotram, Lalitha Sahasra Nama Stotram, etc. 

Sahasra Namavali worship is more popular for worshiping Vishnu, Shiva, Maha Laxmi, Durga, Goddess Lalitha, Gayatri, Saraswati, Ganesha, and others. It is done with 1008 flowers.