ಹನುಮದ್ವ್ರತ, ಹನುಮ ಜಯಂತಿ (ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ) | Hanumad Vrata, Hanuman Jayanti (Karnataka)

Hanumad Vrata is the vow kept for Hanuman on the trayodashi, the thirteenth tithi, of Margashirsha shukla paksha. In Karnataka this is Hanuman Jayanti. When a Kannada almanac or a temple in Karnataka speaks of Hanuman Jayanti, it usually means this day in December, not the full moon of Chaitra that Maharashtra and North India keep. The vrata is also kept in Andhra Pradesh and in other parts of South India.

One devotee, several birthdays

The tradition does not agree on the date of Hanuman’s birth, and each region has kept its own. The North and Maharashtra keep the full moon of Chaitra, which is the day Anudina calls Hanuman Jayanti. The Telugu country keeps a forty-one day deeksha that begins on Chaitra Purnima and ends on the dashami of Vaishakha krishna paksha, its own Hanuman Jayanti. Tamil Nadu keeps Hanumath Jayanthi on the amavasya of Margashirsha, which usually falls with the nakshatra Moola. Karnataka’s day is this trayodashi, in the same fortnight as Gita Jayanti before it and Datta Jayanti after it. None of these is a correction of the others. Each is the old practice of its own country.

How the vrata is kept

The vrata is a puja to Hanuman with the sixteen upacharas, a fast, and the reading of the vrata katha at the end. Its distinctive feature is a thread with thirteen knots, matching the thirteenth tithi. The thread is placed before the image, worshipped with it, and then tied on, and on this day it is also tied at Hanuman temples. The offerings are those usual for Hanuman: sindura, betel leaves, flowers, fruit and vada, with the Hanuman Chalisa or the Sundara Kanda read. Families differ in the details, and the household’s own practice and its priest are the guide.

The story told with the vrata is set among the Pandavas. Draupadi is advised to keep it for the peace of the family. Arjuna, who carried Hanuman on the banner of his chariot, makes light of the thread, and the troubles of the family and the thirteen years of exile follow, until Arjuna himself keeps the vrata. The versions differ on who gave the advice, Vyasa, Narada or Krishna, and one account names the Bhavishyottara Purana as its source. Some tellings explain the thirteen knots as the thirteen years of the exile.

Anjanadri

Many in Karnataka hold the Anjanadri hill across the river from Hampi, in Gangavathi taluk of Koppal district, to be Hanuman’s birthplace, in the Kishkindha of the Ramayana. It is not the only place with that claim: the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams names a hill of the same name at Tirumala. On Hanuman Jayanti in December, devotees who have taken the Hanuma mala and kept its discipline for a period climb Anjanadri to complete the vow with the visarjane of the mala and the darshan at the top.

Which day Anudina gives

Anudina gives Hanumad Vrata on the day on which the trayodashi of Margashirsha shukla paksha is running at sunrise. A bright fortnight carries the same month name in the amanta and the purnimanta reckonings, so there is no difference of month to allow for. In 2026 it falls on 22 December.

It is a Karnataka observance. Anudina shows it under the South Indian custom, and under the North Indian custom only when “Show festivals of other regions too” is turned on. Because it is a vow as well as a festival, the Reminders page lists it among the vratas too. The Chaitra date and the Telugu date are kept as rows of their own, so a reader in Karnataka sees this day as the local Hanuman Jayanti and can still find the others.