Mangalvar Vrat Katha (Hanuman ji)

Traditionally the Tuesday fast is kept for Hanuman ji, often on twenty-one Tuesdays in a row. Devotees wear red, offer Hanuman ji sindoor, red flowers and a bhog of jaggery and gram, read the Hanuman Chalisa, and eat once in the day, a meal without salt, such as one made of wheat and jaggery. Then this katha is heard.

In a town lived a Brahmin and his wife. They had no children. The Brahmin went to the forest to worship Hanuman ji and began praying there. At home his wife kept a fast every Tuesday, offered bhog to Hanuman ji, and ate only after that.

One Tuesday, for some reason, she could not prepare the bhog. She decided, 'Until I offer bhog next Tuesday, I will eat nothing.' For six days she went without food or water. On the next Tuesday she fainted from weakness. Seeing her unbroken faith, Hanuman ji appeared and gave her a beautiful baby boy, saying he would serve her well. The boy was named Mangal.

When the Brahmin came home and saw the child, doubt entered his mind. His wife told him the truth, but he did not believe her. One day he took the boy to the well to draw water and pushed him in. When he got home, he saw Mangal walking along behind him, smiling. The Brahmin was stunned.

That night Hanuman ji appeared to the Brahmin in a dream and said, 'I gave this child to you. You were wrong to doubt your wife.' The Brahmin deeply regretted his mistake and asked his wife's forgiveness. From then on husband and wife kept the Tuesday fast together and lived in love.