🚩 Tuesday Vrat (Hanuman) and Mangalagaur Vrat Katha
The story
The Tuesday vrat katha: a Brahmin couple was childless; the Brahmin worshipped Hanuman in the forest, the wife kept the Tuesday vrat at home and ate only after offering bhog to Hanuman. One Tuesday she could not make the bhog and stayed hungry — six days later, on the next Tuesday, she fainted; Hanuman appeared — 'pleased by your faith, take this son' — the boy 'Mangal'. When the Brahmin returned he grew suspicious and dropped the child in a well — but Mangal came back smiling; at night Hanuman told the Brahmin the truth in a dream, he repented; the couple lived happily, the son Mangal ever protected. The lesson — the Tuesday vrat with faith brings the protection of children and Hanuman's grace.
The Mangalagaur kahani (Maharashtra): a sadhu told a wealthy childless merchant that his son would live 16 years; a son was born, married in his 16th year; the bride's mother had kept the Mangalagauri vrat on the Tuesdays of Shravana and had her daughter keep it too — when Yama came, the husband was saved by the power of the bride's vrat/Gauri's protection in the form of a serpent, his life became a hundred years; since then new brides keep Mangalagaur for five years — the husband's long life. The Mangala Gauri katha of the north is the same (the merchant's son of 16 years, long life through the wife's vrat — Yama defeated in the form of a snake).
The birth of the planet Mars: a drop of Shiva's sweat fell on the earth — Mangal (Angaraka/Bhauma), son of the Earth — blood-red, fierce; Ujjain is the birthplace of Mars (the Mangalnath temple — the bhaat puja pacifies the Manglik dosha); Hanuman controls Mars — hence Hanuman worship on Tuesday pacifies Mangal dosha (folk astrology); Angaraka won the Angarki Sankashti through penance to Ganesha.
Why this katha — the significance
Hanuman: born on a Tuesday (folk belief — Chaitra Purnima, a Tuesday), the avatar of Rudra, the giver of the eight siddhis and nine nidhis; the Tuesday vrat removes fear, illness, spirits and Saturn's affliction ('Bhoot pishach nikat nahin aavai'), gives courage and confidence; the rule of celibacy; women may worship Hanuman (touching the idol/the chola is for men in some temples) — the Chalisa, lamp and laddoo for everyone.
The planet Mars: son of the Earth, the significator of blood, courage, brothers, land and vehicles; Mars in the 1st-4th-7th-8th-12th house of the chart = Manglik dosha (delay/discord in marriage — folk astrology); the Tuesday vrat, Hanuman worship, the gift of red masoor-jaggery-red cloth-copper, 'Om Am Angarakaya Namah'/the Mangal stotra, coral (from a priest) — the remedies; Bhauma Pradosh and Angarki Sankashti are Tuesday's too.
Mangalagaur (Maharashtra): the Gauri puja of the Shravana Tuesday — the new bride for five years, then the udyapan; sixteen kinds of leaves and flowers (patri), the Annapurna idol, the night-long vigil of games (jhimma, phugadi, pinga, ukhane — the husband's name in verse), the women of both families; in north India the Mangala Gauri vrat (the Sawan Tuesday — 16 items and 16 laddoos for Parvati) — marital fortune and children.
How the katha is heard
- Hear or read the katha after the puja, before the aarti — the whole family sits together.
- The one keeping the vrat should listen with a calm mind; keep a lamp lit and a little akshat-flowers in hand.
- At the end, offer the flowers at the deity's feet and bow; share the prasad with everyone.
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Frequently asked questions
When is the next Tuesday vrat and when are the Sawan Tuesdays of {Y}?
The list above has the next 12 Tuesdays — those marked 'Mangalagaur (Shravana Tuesday)' are the Sawan Tuesdays (the Purnimanta Shravana — north India; Maharashtra's Amanta Shravana begins 15 days later — its Tuesdays are the list's Shravana Shukla Tuesdays plus the following ones (Purnimanta Bhadrapada Krishna, i.e. Amanta Shravana Krishna)); begin the 21-Tuesday vrat on any Tuesday (Shukla Paksha best).
How many Tuesday vrats, what rules, salt?
A vow of 21 (about 5 months) or 45 Tuesdays; the morning Hanuman puja (chola-laddoo-Chalisa), one meal — sweet/saltless by tradition (jaggery-halwa-sweet roti), many homes rock salt; celibacy; 21 laddoos-flag-feeding children at the udyapan; the sick and pregnant eat normally and keep only the puja and Chalisa.
What is Mangal dosha (Manglik), and does the Tuesday vrat pacify it?
Mars in the 1st-4th-7th-8th-12th house from the ascendant in the chart = Manglik (the folk belief of delay/discord in marriage; many exceptions — Mars in own/exalted sign, Jupiter's aspect, weakening after 28); the remedies — the Tuesday vrat, Hanuman worship, the gift of red masoor-jaggery-red cloth-copper, the Mangal stotra, the Ujjain Mangalnath bhaat puja, the kumbh vivah (some), coral (from a priest); confirm first from the chart (a Manglik report) — not out of fear.
What is Mangalagaur and who keeps it?
The new bride of Maharashtra worships Gauri-Annapurna on every Tuesday of Shravana (Amanta) — sixteen patri and flowers, haldi-kunku, karanjya; inviting the married women and friends of both families for night-long jhimma-phugadi-pinga-ukhane; the first five years of marriage (the first year at the parental home, the rest at the in-laws' — customs differ), the udyapan in the fifth year; the husband's long life and good fortune; now communal Mangalagaur programmes in the cities.
How to do the Mangala Gauri vrat (north)?
On every Tuesday of Sawan married women/girls worship Parvati (Mangala Gauri) — 16 of each item (laddoos, fruit, flowers, paan, supari, cloves, cardamom, bangles, 16 flour lamps — 16 wicks), suhag items, the katha (the merchant's son's life of 16 years lengthened by the vrat), aarti; one meal; the udyapan after 5 years/when able; the long life of husband and children, pacifying Mangal dosha.
Can women worship Hanuman?
Yes — the Hanuman Chalisa, lamp, laddoo, Sundarkand and the Tuesday vrat are for all; in some temple traditions touching the idol/offering the chola is done by men (Hanuman is a brahmachari — the scriptures do not forbid women's worship, Mother Sita herself); women may offer the chola/sindoor from a distance; remembrance and japa during menstruation.
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